Second Life
by clairlz
Summary: This is the fallout after Beth's turning. This follows Rescued. These are best read in order. This series is Mick/Beth/Josef
1. Chapter 1

**Moonlight isn't mine in any way. It's just a place I go to play.**

**This follows Rescued. The series is meant to be read in order.**

**This is Mick/Beth/Josef series. This is also a repost of a series that I wrote quite a while ago. **

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Josef looks over at the slender form laying on the couch in his office. He sees the blond curls sticking up above the blanket that covers her. He is trying so hard to be objective, and it isn't working. His first instinct as her sire and her friend, is to go find Mick and beat him senseless. If there was anyone else who could stay with her, he might do it, but there isn't. If she wakes up and he's not here, it will devastate her. She ran to Josef for a reason. He can't understand how Mick could hurt her this way. Sure, she's changed, but it's for the better.

Beth is in terrible pain. Josef is sure Mick is his typical tortured self, and now Josef is in pain with them. Oh, he would have felt bad anyway, but now it is worse because he has his pain and hers. He tinkers with the idea of shooting Mick, but decides she might not forgive him, and he wouldn't be able to stand that.

Josef thinks back, knowing damn well how they got here.

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Several months ago, Beth and Mick dropped by his office to see him. Beth was so excited. She wanted Josef to turn her. She finally decided that it was time. Mick didn't seem thrilled about the idea, but he didn't object. Josef assumed he'd come to terms with the idea. Josef didn't really want to do it. Not that he thought it was a bad idea; he didn't. When Beth was staying with him during the fiasco with Lola, Josef realized he'd fallen in love with her. He wasn't sure he was going to want her to go back to Mick. He knows from firsthand experience fledgling vampires are very dependent on their sires. He could, even unintentionally, manipulate the situation so she would stay with him. In the end, Josef agreed. Only because he was afraid, she would go to someone else who wouldn't give her the care she deserved. He also had to admit that the idea of another vampire being that connected to her, made him jealous.

The more Josef watched Mick the more worried he became. Mick seemed pensive and it bothered him. If Mick had a problem with Beth becoming a vampire, now is the time to say so. Once it it's done, that would be it. As they all know, there is no turning back. Josef decided to talk to them separately and see what is going on. Luckily Beth had to take off and go to work, and she had her own car with her because Mick had some errands to run.

Mick smiles as Beth leans over and kisses him on her way out the door, then she stops, smiles, walks over and gives Josef a hug. "Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me. I really want you to be the one to do this for me." Josef doesn't know what to say; he smiles down at her.

They both watch her go. "Hey, what's the matter? You don't seem nearly as happy about this as Beth does."

Mick leans forward and puts his head in his hands and looks up at Josef. "I never could say no to her."

Josef understands the sentiment. He has the same problem. Saying no to Beth isn't something either of them is any good at. "Mick you need to talk to her again, if you think you can't live with this. I mean it. Is it worth it if it tears the two of you apart?"

"Josef, I've gone over this in my head a hundred times. I've finally listened to all the things you've said to me over the years. I'm going to lose her one way or the other. If she doesn't do this, then I end up watching her grow old and die. At least if she's turned, she's around for me to work things out with, or not. If she dies, then she's just gone. The reason I agreed to this, is that no matter what happens, I don't want her to die. I know that's selfish, but I can't imagine a world without her, if we're together or not."

Josef nods and decides he needs to talk to Beth alone.

"I have to go. I've got things I need to get done. I'll talk to you later." And Mick left.

Josef called Beth at Buzzwire. "Beth, I when you are getting done at work?"

Beth hears the note of concern in Josef's voice. "You're not changing your mind, are you?"

"I don't think so, but I need to talk to you. Look, I'll be at the office all night. Any chance you can drop by here on your way home?"

"Sure. It will be a couple hours, but I'll be there."

Josef paces around the room, trying to think of what to say to her and ensure she's looked at this thoroughly. Beth walks into his office a couple of hours later. Josef notices she looks worried. "You're not changing your mind, are you?"

Josef smiles at her. "Beth, I want to make sure that you and Mick are ready for this."

Beth makes a sour face. "Did Mick tell you to try and talk me out of it?"

Josef looks at her questioningly. "No, but are you saying you know Mick has reservations about this?"

She waves her hand in the air dismissively. "Of course, he does. I wouldn't even have to talk to him to know that. You know how he is about being a vampire. It will be fine once he gets use to it. You know, we've managed to get through a lot of things together. This may take a little time, but it will be all right."

"What if it's not? What if you lose Mick over this? Can you live without him? Do you even want to be a vampire without Mick there with you?"

"Josef, it will be okay, we'll be okay. Mick and I love each other. We'll find a way."

Josef shakes his head. "I hope you're right. You know I want you to be happy."

Beth smiles. "Then stop worrying and tell me when we can do it."

He had one other thing to take care of. He called Vanessa and without preamble he begins. "I'm adding to the family. You remember the human I asked you to keep safe if the fight with Lola had gone bad? It's her."

Vanessa stays silent waiting for more information. This was not the way she'd planned Beth's turning. When Josef remains so quiet, she's not sure if he's disconnected or not, she sighs. "When you called me about her you said she's a friend."

Josef pinches the bridge of his nose. He knows Vanessa well enough to know that this conversation is not going to go well. "Yes, she's involved with a close friend of mine. I've known her a couple years and she'll make a great vampire."

Vanessa stares at the ceiling and shakes her head. "Then how come your friend isn't turning her?" She asks this but knows the reason. Over the years Josef has mentioned Mick and the help he's given to keep Josef's territory trouble free. She had Mick investigated years ago. She's glad Josef formed some strong bonds with the young vampire. She also knows what Coraline did to Mick and the trauma it left him with. If she ever gets her hands on Coraline there will be hell to pay.

"There are complications. He's young and he's not up to the task so she asked me."

"Josef." She growls his name and that's not a sign that the conversation is going to get any better. "This is not good. You're already emotionally involved with this woman. Don't deny it. I can hear it in your voice. You're going to turn her, and this is going to turn into a train wreck." _I do not want Beth in the middle of a mess._

"What would you have me do?" He snarls back at her. "Mick absolutely isn't up to being anyone's sire. Would you have me send her packing to some asshole who I will have to kill?"

With that declaration Vanessa realizes it's worse than she thought. "For Hera's sake. You're in love with her. Josef please don't do this. Two territorial male vampires in love with the same women is a recipe for disaster. You know this. Find a female vampire to turn her." She thinks of suggesting she could do it but that would open another can of worms she's not ready to deal with.

Josef looks up when he hears the door open and Rose peaks in. She takes one look at Josef's face and takes a step back shutting the door behind her. She looks over Josef's schedule for the day and sees it's light. Only two internal meetings that can be put off. She rings everyone involved up and cancels. No use someone getting their throats ripped out.

"No. I'm doing this. Even if I weren't emotionally involved, I owe her. When I told you about killing Lola, I may have downplayed a few things. Vanessa I almost didn't make it. Those silver tipped claws I told you she had were doing damage that wasn't healing. I wasn't healing. If Beth hadn't come through the door and distracted Lola by shooting her, I never would have gotten the upper hand and been able to take her head. Then," he snarls. "Then Beth sees that I'm almost gone and bares her neck for me. Vanessa, she trusted me to not kill her, a wounded vampire and she trusted that I'd only take enough to keep both of us alive." He's silent for a moment. "It will be fine. You know how I am about my people, my family. If you had turned any males but me, I'd want it to be Mick. He's as close to me as my sisters are. He's hundreds of years younger than I am, he can't hurt me, and I have enough control to keep from hurting him. We will work it out."

She hears the resolution in his voice and gives up. "All right but once she's on her feet I want to meet both her and Mick."

Josef wonders how long he can put her off. "Fine but it's going to be a while."

"Don't push me too far or so help me I will fly out there and sort this for myself." She snaps at him.

He smiles grimly into the phone. One thing about Vanessa he learned early, she does not make idle threats. It's why they mostly get along so well. "Fine. I'll call when things have settled down." He tosses the phone down, so he won't throw it against the wall.

Vanessa turns to Juliet. "Remember when we had the reporter friend of Josef's investigated?"

Juliet nots. "Sure. Has she become a problem?"

Vanessa scowls. "She apparently saved your brother's life and now he's going to turn her." Vanessa narrows her eyes. She knows a few things about Beth but not enough. She had planned to go to Los Angeles and introduce herself to Beth, find out about the girl firsthand. That was before she found out Beth and Josef were friends. Now that's impossible. "How deep did they go on the investigation?"

Juliet shrugs. "Just enough to make sure she was trustworthy as far as keeping our secrets."

"That's what I thought. Call Alister, give him the report from the council investigator and tell him I want a deep dive into the women's life. Tell him this is private for my eyes only. Then tell him to investigate Mick St. John, same deep dive. We only went as far as Coraline turning him last time. I want everything, family tree the whole nine yards. And for heaven's sake tell him to be careful. If he tips off Josef, I will be most unhappy."

Juliet laughs. "And we don't want that."

Vanessa scrunches her nose at Juliet. "Brat."

Josef cleared his schedule for the next few months. He gave one of his best people, Jacob McCabe a raise. He explained that he was putting him in charge of the day to day running of the office. He made sure he knew if he screwed it up Josef would be unhappy. When Jacob got done shaking, Josef explained that he would be more than willing to answer texts and emails. He also pointed out that Rose has been his assistant for a long time. She will also be available to answer questions, but she has her own responsibilities so not to lean too hard on her. That seemed to make things better.

When the big night came Josef and Beth were disappointed when Mick said he didn't want to be present at Beth's turning. He used the excuse that he would wait in Josef's office so he wouldn't be in the way. Both Josef and Robert could see the hurt in Beth's eyes. That didn't stop her from nodding when Josef once again asked her if she was sure this is what she wants.

Robert stayed and handed Josef the silver knife. At the appropriate moment he sliced his wrist and fed Beth his blood. Once she was feeding from him, he sat in a chair and let Beth curl around him in her first sleep as a vampire. Robert when downstairs to see Mick. "It went well. Josef's with her and she's sleeping. I'd give it a couple days before you talk to Josef. He's going to need time to get her settled."

To Robert's disappointment Mick nodded and went home. He didn't ask to see Beth or talk to Josef. He just left.

Two days later Mick called Josef. "How is she?"

"She's fine. You know mostly she wants to eat and sleep. It's going to be awhile longer before she's ready to concentrate on anything else."

Mick was quiet for several moments and Josef wasn't sure Mick hadn't disconnected. "Tell her I love her and call me when I can see her."

Josef was a bit dumbfounded. All he could say was. "Sure Mick."

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Josef watches as her eyes flutter open. It's been a week of watching and waiting to make sure she didn't slip away, like Sarah. He knows once Beth woke up the odds were good that she would be fine, but all the same; every time she went to sleep, he worried. He supposes it is the same as human parents watching a baby sleep. At least with a human baby you could lay a hand on their back and feel for warmth and breath. Not so with a fledgling, since they aren't going to breathe or have the warmth of life. Rationally, he knew she was fine, but there is nothing rational about this bond he has with Beth. If he hadn't known what to expect, he would be crazy by now.

New vampires are, at first, on sensory overload. Everything is too loud, too bright, and too stinky. Once they start getting used to it, they wanted to touch, smell and see everything. Josef notices that, in addition to the usual things, Beth's inquisitive nature is amped up as well. She can't just touch something or see something once; she needs to experience everything. This extends to Josef as well. If he gets too far from her, she will find him. She will then have to touch him all over and, on occasion, taste him by coming around from behind and kissing him. Every time she does that, he is tempted to throw her on the nearest flat surface and take her right there. Her turning has resulted in a shared connection that is very powerful. Somewhere in Josef's heart he hopes it never goes away.

Then there is water. For some reason Josef can't understand, Beth loves the feel of water on her skin. He's never seen such a desire in a vampire. She loves the shower, never mind how hard it is to get her out of the pool. One evening he decided to take her for a walk. He'd forgotten there is a small lake down through the woods. She sees it and gives a small yell of delight. She runs over and hugs him and runs away again to see the water. He's sure she thinks he put it there just for her. Before he knows what, she is doing she strips down and is diving in. Josef sits on the bank and watches her. He is sure he's never seen anything quite so beautiful as Beth swimming in the moonlight naked. She has such a delight for life, surprising since she's dead. It is a pleasure to be around her. She told him later, that all her life she wanted to swim naked in a lake just like this. She liked the lake better than the pool because it is more a natural temperature.

After a few weeks Mick starts spending a lot of time with them. Then it was time for Beth to learn to do some of the things that make Mick feel uncomfortable. The day came when Beth needed to learn to feed from humans without hurting them. Josef does as much as he can to prepare everyone. Beth spent two weeks at his house before he turned her. Part of that time, he encouraged her to spend time with Emily and the girls. Josef thought it would help Beth to remember later that the girls, freshies, weren't prey and not to hurt them. It is an important distinction the predator in her needs to learn. Learning to live in the human world without being detected is an important ability. He knows Beth would know it on a conscience level, but he wants the predator to learn the difference. Josef figures if she prefers feeding on males, he will bring in some for her later. For right now, his girls are probably more in her comfort level.

The hardest part of teaching a fledgling to feed from humans is to learn to stop and not go too far. Up to this point, she is feeding from Josef and from a glass. Fresh warm, human blood is a whole different experience. That's where learning to overcome the bloodlust comes into play. It isn't even that she will still be hungry; it's the sensory experience is amazing for a vampire and the human. Josef will never understand how Mick gave it up. Josef suspects that it doesn't hurt that Beth fed both him and Mick when she was still human. Even under such dire circumstances as feeding them to save lives, she understood what the freshies felt. She never wanted them to feel pain.

Mick insisted Beth learn to protect herself using her new strength and abilities. Josef was all for that, and Mick took over the physical aspects of her training. He gave her simple things to do to learn to get control of her agility and strength. Then one day he started teaching her to fight. Josef thought Mick's insistence stemmed from Mick's memory of Beth being attacked. He knew how lucky she was to get through it alive. Mick wants to make sure she can have a fighting chance, no matter the situation. Josef realized later Mick was afraid he wouldn't be there any more to protect her. He was doing his best to give her the tools she would need to take care of herself if they parted ways.

Before she was turned, the three of them, decided not to teach her to hunt in the basic sense of the word. This was against Josef's better judgment. When she was ready, Josef would take her out and teach her to seduce her pray into giving up their blood willingly. That was as far as it would go. Josef smiles, he knows she won't have any trouble in that area. He consoles himself. Mick taught her to defend herself, if push comes to shove, if she is hungry her predator will be able to get food. At this point there will be no killing.

Josef remembers the first few times he took her away from home. At first, she was frightened. She learned quickly if she was well fed and rested ahead of time, she had fewer urges to conquer. She also saw that, even over a short time, it became easier with practice.

Somewhere along the line, they started taking walks around the property. They talked over what she learned and how to make it better. Josef found she is better able to focus if they got away from all the activity at the house. As the months progressed, they fell into a comfort level that was so peaceful he realized he never wanted her to leave. That's when he knew she had grown to the point that she would be fine away from him and it was time for her to go home with Mick. That was two months ago

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So, what's she now doing sleeping on the couch?

Several hours ago, she came into his office sobbing that Mick didn't love her anymore. He was prepared for her. Two minutes before she showed up, Mick called and told him she's coming to see him, and she was upset. Mick followed her to Josef's office to make sure she got there all right. Josef started to ask Mick what happened, but when she came in crying, he hung up. He thought he might as well ask her. The office staff had standing orders to always let her come right in, and he was glad that the order was still in effect. He told his staff to get out and he told Rose to cancel all his appointments. He sits on the couch and Beth crawls in his lap and cries herself into exhaustion. Managing to get out that Mick told her that he didn't love her the same way he did before. He didn't know if he ever would again.

Josef calls down to the garage and has them bring the limo up next to the elevators. He is going to bundle her up and take her home. He doesn't want to wake her if he can help it. She's spent. Since it's morning, he's hoping she will keep right on sleeping until twilight.

As they ride through the early morning, Josef calls Robert, "I'm on my way home with a guest. Beth and Mick had a blow up. She's been at the office most of the night. I'm not letting her go anywhere else until I find out what is going with them."

Robert snorts. "I'll lay you odds the idiot doesn't like the new and improved Beth." Robert has always liked Beth, but now that she's one of them she can do no wrong.

Josef sighs. "I'm afraid you're right." Josef hangs up.

Josef walks into the house with Beth in his arms. Robert comes to the door, takes one look at her and shakes his head. "I'm going to find Mick St. John and beat the hell out of him." The last time Josef saw Robert this mad he was standing at the bottom of these very stairs with Mick to protect Beth. _Good times._

Josef shakes his head. "Calm down or you'll wake her. Robert, this is as much my fault as Mick's. I should have seen it coming. If I had refused to turn her. I don't know."

Josef heads for the stairs. "I'm going to take her up and put her in her own freezer." It is the freezer she used when he cared for her as a fledgling. The master bedroom has two separate freezer rooms off the main room where the bed is. She slept in it all the time she was adjusting to her new world. She will at least wake up and know she is safe. She will sense him, and maybe that will give her some comfort until she starts to think about Mick.

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Mick sits in the dark and stares at the walls. He can't believe what an idiot he is to hurt Beth like this. He hasn't eaten; he hasn't slept since she bolted from the apartment. He followed her to make sure she got to Josef's all right. Josef will take care of her. Now he sits here in the dark trying to figure out how much damage he's done. It hurts. He doesn't know what to do about it. He can't live with her; she's not his Beth, and the loss is so painful. Beth, his Beth, is gone but can he learn to love this new Beth? He hadn't thought so, until she was gone. Now he wonders if it's too late. She's gone back to Josef. There is absolutely no reason Josef should encourage her to ever even speak to Mick again. Josef is her sire and it's his role to make sure that she is happy and secure in her new life. On top of that, Mick knows that Josef is in love with her. What happens from here is up to Josef.

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Josef strips her down and lays her in her freezer and shuts the lid. He looks down at her and finally admits to himself, how much he loves and wants her to be his and only his. He tries not to think about it now, there's too much going on.

He wonders if she will want to stay and live here for a while. It would be odd to have here again but no longer a fledgling. Before when she lived here, she was so dependent, so unBeth-like. He thought of her as a child, and a child was the last thing Josef wanted. He smiles. This though, this is a grown-up vampire Beth. Of course, now, she is vulnerable again because of the breakup with Mick.

He always wondered if Mick would ever be able to accept this new Beth. One of the things that Mick loved the most about her was her humanity. It is what he lacks and loves in her. Josef wants to be wrong and knows that if anyone can surprise him it is Mick.

Josef goes in the other freezer room and gets in his own freezer. He wants to forget all this for a while. The oblivion of sleep is certainly one of the best ways he can think of to escape it.

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As always, I love to hear what you think


	2. Chapter 2

**As much as I wish it. Moonlight doesn't belong to me in any way shape or form. I like to come play in their sandbox.**

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Beth wakes up with a start. She reaches out with her senses to see where she is. She immediately relaxes. She is home with Josef in her own freezer. She feels like such a damn fool. Josef tried to tell her this was a possibility, a very real possibility, and she hadn't wanted to believe it. Mick has always been there for her and she couldn't imagine a reason he would abandon her. Well, now she knows. He doesn't love her anymore.

Beth thinks about what it means to be a vampire. All the great abilities that come with it, the things she and most vampires consider benefits. Mick looks at them as evidence that his humanity has slipped away. Now she knows why Josef could never understand Mick. When she steps back and thinks about it, she can't understand him either. Truth is, she loves this life so far. She hasn't lived much of it. Drinking her meals and sleeping during the day aren't much of a price to pay for all the good things. Beth realizes that it is worth the trade. She wants to be a vampire whether Mick wants her to be one or not. It is what she wants, not for Mick, but for herself.

She will have to think about that later because it still hurts to think about Mick. She does love him, and it kills her that he doesn't love her the same, but she thinks she was meant to be a vampire. She isn't meant to be one with Mick. Maybe he was meant to be there for her first life, and someone else to be there for her second one.

She is hungry. It is time to get up and get on with it.

Josef feels her waking and stirring in the other room and wonders if he should go in and check on her. He puts on some sweatpants. He wanders into her freezer room and she is walking on the edge of her freezer like she was walking a tight rope. He smiles. She started doing that in the morning to practice her balance and agility when she was still learning to adapt. It was something to see her doing it again, only this time without a stitch on. _Very nice sight. _He lets out a wolf whistle. She looks up at him and gives him a big smile. Now that warms his heart more than anything, that beautiful smile.

She looks up at him. "I'm going down for breakfast. You want some?" She jumps down and laughs as she finds a pair of his sweatpants and one of his t-shirts hanging on the hook. He realizes that Robert must have left it for her sometime while they were sleeping. "Robert is still one step ahead of both of us." She laughs again. "Thank goodness you seem to have an endless supply of sweats and t-shirts. Must be because you spend so much time in those stuffy suits." He starts to protest and sees the folly in arguing with her. She's always liked him in jeans and t-shirts more than the suits, and nothing is going to change that.

He watches her carefully. She rolls up the bottom of the sweatpants to see if this is a facade or if she is bouncing back this quickly. He decides to go with it for now. "Sure. I could eat." He puts his arm out like he used to. She dips herself under it and wraps her arm around his waist and they go down to breakfast. She looks up at him shyly. "You think the girls will mind feeding me again?"

He laughs. "They missed you something terrible when you left. Remember when I didn't even want you spending time with Emily?"

Beth nods. "I thought it was because I was an outsider."

Josef laughs. "No dear, it was because you are so headstrong. It was bad enough having to deal with you, but I didn't need the girls picking it up as well. I suspect I got hoodwinking on more than one occasion by either you or Emily, or both, when you lived here."

She gives him one of her most innocent faces, and he knows he is dead on. "No, I'm guessing the girls will be glad to see you. I know they missed you. They ask about you often."

Beth comes to a halt and doesn't move. Josef looks at her and realizes Mick is downstairs. Josef looks down at her. "You don't have to see him if you don't want to."

She shakes her head. "No, it's time we got this over with. I can tell standing here he regrets what he said. I guess I know him so well I can read his mood from here. He wants to apologize and try to work something out."

Josef looks surprised at her. He can tell she's mad. "Isn't that what you want? I know how much you love him."

Beth starts to shed some tears and he reaches up and wipes them away. "I do. I love him so much, but I'm not going to live with someone who thinks there is something wrong with me. I'll go in and talk to him; you go eat and I'll meet you."

She starts to walk away, and he brings her back around to him. "I will be in the kitchen. Not far if you need me; you call, and I'll come for you." He pulls her into a hug and looks down at her. "There is not one damn thing wrong with you, you know that?" she nods at him through the tears. "Remember, call me if you need me." He thinks if she gets too upset, he'll easily feel it in the kitchen. He doesn't want to intervene unless she asks, or he feels it's necessary.

Beth smiles "He won't hurt me."

"I don't think he will hurt you physically, ever, but he might hurt you more emotionally than you can bear. You call and I'll come in," Josef smiles "and throw his ass out."

She smiles "Ok." Beth heads to the sitting room to see Mick.

Josef enters the kitchen to a glowering Robert. Josef is her sire, but Robert, is her overprotective uncle.

Josef smiles at him, trying to get him to lighten up. "Beth said she could tell from upstairs that Mick wants to apologize and try to work something out."

Robert quietly lets out a snarl. "Are you going to let her go back to him?"

Josef shakes his head at Robert. "It's not up to me. She's a big girl now, not a fledgling. She's a fully functioning vampire and I'd as soon that was the way it stayed. I'm not telling her anything." Josef smiles. "Besides, I think Mick is about to find out how much stupidity can cost you."

Robert looks surprised. "You think she's going to tell him no?"

"I don't know. That's what she said, but I also know she loves him, and she may come face to face with him and change her mind."

Beth walks into the sitting room. Mick's standing there trying not to feel defeated before he opens his mouth. He can read her as well as she can read him. She knows he wants to try and work something out and he knows she's ready to tell him no. He can see that by looking at the set of her mouth. Mick walks across to her and realizes she's wearing Josef's clothes and the logic of it makes sense. She left home with next to nothing, but it doesn't stop him from wanting to put his fist through the wall. He calms his temper. He doesn't want to add frightening her to his list of sins. "I'm sorry for being stupid. I do love you. It's just so different. I don't want to hurt you."

Beth starts to cry. "No. You know what I discovered? Even if you don't like me as a vampire, I like me as a vampire. I like me a lot this way and I'm not living with anyone who thinks there is something wrong with me. To hell with you Mick St. John, this is who I am. You won't even make love to me."

Mick takes a step towards her and she takes one step back away from him. He reaches out to her. "Please. We can work this out."

She steps backward as he moves towards her. "No. If you loved me it wouldn't matter that I was a vampire. It never mattered to me that you are one."

That hits home hard and it makes Mick mad. "That's not fair. I was already a vampire when we met. You never knew me any other way."

She turns her back on him and won't look at him and he moves to turn her around to face him and she lets out a yelp and jumps back. It's enough to bring Josef into the room.

Mick turns again as he hears a voice in the doorway. Josef is leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. "Get out. She said she doesn't want to talk to you."

Mick lets out a low growl and Josef doesn't move. "Mick do you really want to do this? You remember the last time you gave me any shit about Beth? As I recall you ended up with my hand around your throat."

Beth turns back to Mick. "Just go. Don't make this any worse than it is. Just go. If you can't accept what you are, how can you accept what I am? Good-bye Mick. I'll always love you."

He stands there for a minute trying to reach out to her across the connection they've always shared. He finds she's shutting him out completely. Mick stalks past Josef and slams the door behind him.

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Beth goes over and sits down on the couch and rocks back and forth trying so hard not to cry. She can feel Mick trying to reach across to her through their shared connection and she shuts him out. It hurts too much. Josef is torn between trying to comfort her and going out and beating the hell out of Mick. In the end he can't leave her. She's tired of hurting and crying, but she feels like she can't stop and soon the tears are flowing again. Josef gets comfortable next to her. He opens his arms and she snuggles up and puts her face in his shoulder and cries for a little while. It hurts too bad.

Josef hoped from her demeanor this morning that this was going to go better.

Robert comes in with two glasses and a bottle of AB negative. He peeks in and Josef waves him in. Josef looks down at Beth. "Hey, Robert brought us breakfast." She shakes her head and puts her head back on his shoulder. "Josef, please hold me for a while?"

"Of course. Whatever you want."

Josef motions for Robert to pour one glass and put it where Josef can reach it. He'll have some and the smell might encourage her to have some as well. Josef rubs her back and drinks his blood. This is so reminiscent of the night he started to fall in love with her it almost makes him ache.

She finally stops crying and moves, but he notices she doesn't move far. He sits up. "Are you going to be ok?" He continues to rub her back not even realizing he's doing it. She nods, but he knows that look. She's biting her lip and that usually means no, but she'll tell him yes so, he won't worry. "Hey, why don't you go take a shower and then I'll take one and we'll go back to plan A and go see the girls and have something to eat? They are probably wondering how come we didn't come down. You know you'll feel better if you have a shower and feed. At this rate you're going to be over extended. That's not good for you."

She starts to get up from the couch but stops. She turns to him and asks, "Josef do you love me?"

He smiles at her. "Don't be silly. You know I do. I'm your sire. It doesn't matter what happens I will always love you."

He watches her and she is looking down and playing with a thread in her sweats. Then he hears, "Not like that, like Mick use to love me, do you love me like that?"

Josef stops for a half second and sees the disappointment when he doesn't answer. He turns her chin up so she is looking at him. "I think right now the only thing you should worry about where I'm concerned is that I love you because I'm your sire." She makes a face at him. "And I will always love you. You need to sort out your feelings about Mick and leave me out of it. You don't need any more confusion."

She looks down again and nods. "But Josef…what if…"

"Beth, look at me." She looks up. "Do you love Mick?"

"Yes, but….."

"But what?"

"But what if I don't love him the same way I did before?"

Josef was glad he had developed pretty good control around her. She would have known that she got to him with that one. "Beth, are you sure or are you trying to hurt him like he hurt you, or do you even know?"

She sighs. "I guess I don't know. But I might want to find someone else, someone who loves me the way I am."

Josef shakes his head. "Go take a shower. We need to have this conversation later after you've sorted out how you feel about Mick. Do you miss him?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, I miss him but that's not who or what we're talking about. At some point we are going to finish this conversation."

Josef smiles as she stalks off to go take a shower. Now that is the Beth that he remembers. The one that doesn't take no for an answer, that is pushy and as much a pain in the ass as she is a delight. He wonders why the only time she her old self is, when she is either denied what she wants or mad about something.

Beth goes in and gets the water running. Funny how cold water feels so good now that she's a vampire. She remembers when Mick would turn the water warmer for her when she was still human. She turns it up to see what he was feeling. It's uncomfortable, but he did it for her. She turns it back down. Does she want him to accept himself and her, or is she trying to stick it to him for hurting her?

She thinks about what she asked Josef. She didn't really need to ask. She's known for a long time that he loves her the same way Mick does. It's one of the reasons she asked him to turn her. When he fed from her the night she shot him; she realized she trusted him as much as she trusted Mick. You don't force feed a wounded vampire and expect to come out the other side alive unless you know in your heart that there is a bond on some level. Beth thinks about the bond she has with Josef. Now it's completely different because he's her sire, but she doesn't think that's all there is to it. He doesn't think she remembers him telling her that he loved her the night she shot him, but she does. Beth smiles. She wonders how hard it would be to make this relationship with Josef go in a different direction. The problem is she never wants to ruin Josef's friendship with Mick. If she doesn't end things with Mick right, that is exactly what will happen. Josef is right about one thing; she does need to find out how she feels about Mick. She won't do to them what she did to Mick and Josh.

Beth gets out of the shower and when she gets out, she realizes she doesn't have any more clothes. She wraps a towel around herself and opens the door. She finds a t-shirt and a pair of Josef's sweats waiting for her on the floor. She smiles. His legs are too long but it's better than nothing. She puts them on and rolls them up and goes to tell him he can have the shower.

If nothing else, she was going to have to see Mick to get her clothes back if she is going to stay with Josef.

She finds him in the kitchen. "Hey it's all yours. You know, it's not like there is only one shower in this place."

He smiles. "Well, we'll work all that out later if you decide you want to stay."

He sees her face start to crumble. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Beth starts to feel a little panicked thinking he wants her to leave. "Don't you want me to stay? Please don't make me leave."

"Of course, I want you to stay. You can stay if you want. I thought you might want a different room. We could move your freezer so you could have your own room." Before Josef knows it, she's in his arms and he's holding her. She immediately relaxes. This is not good. She's regressing back to being dependent like she was a fledgling again.

Beth realizes this needs to stop if she's going to get Josef to think of her more than his fledgling. She can't help it right now. "No. I want to stay with you. Just like always."

This is going to kill him he thinks but he also thinks she needs a comfort zone for now. Maybe next week if she hasn't worked things out with Mick she can move to her own room. "That's fine. You can stay where you are. I'm going to run up and take a shower. You go eat. I'm not hungry. I had a couple glasses while we were in the other room."

She shakes her head. "I'll have a glass here then."

He shrugs and goes up to get his shower. He gets in the shower and it still smells of Beth. Her smell is all around him. He has got to move her into a different room if she stays. He gets done and walks down the stairs to find her in the kitchen looking like she's going to cry again. "What happened?"

"Nothing I'm mad at Mick, but I miss him."

Josef thinks about this. "You know, I would rather you didn't talk to him for a little while."

"How come?" she asks

"I don't want him upsetting you until you have a couple days to rest. I don't think you need him putting you in another emotional tailspin so soon. Let Mick sit. It might do him good. Maybe he'll figure out how he feels."

Beth smiles at him but he can see that she's on the verge of tears again. "Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you go swim in the pool and then later we'll go for a walk?"

She brightens. "I'd like that. I'll be back later."

Robert is shaking his head. "While you were upstairs, she was asking me if I thought you loved her like Mick loves her?"

Josef shakes his head. "She asked me that earlier. I wish I knew where that was coming from. What did you tell her?"

Robert shrugs. "I told her she was going to have to ask you. What did you tell her?"

"The truth. I will always love her because I'm her sire. That's all she needs to worry about because she has to straighten out her feelings for Mick."

Robert looks at him disgusted. "That's not the whole truth and you and I both know it. She probably even knows it. You've been in love with her since she took that shot at you in the dark."

"I want her happy. For once I want to do the right thing for everyone. I've been in love before and had it not work out. I'll survive." For all his noble words Josef knows he should be encouraging Beth to work something out with Mick. He just can't make himself do it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Comments are always welcome**


	3. Chapter 3

**As much as I wish it. Moonlight doesn't belong to me in any way shape or form. I like to come play in their sandbox.**

**xxxxxxxx**

Things seem to be quieting down. Beth has her swim and finally goes and sees the girls and has a great time visiting and having some dinner. Earlier Josef asked Robert to go down and tell the girls not to bring up Mick's name unless Beth did. He didn't want them to unknowingly upset her. Beth's mood seems to have finally evened out and she's relaxing. She comes back from seeing the girls and has on a different outfit. He'd forgotten that Beth and Emily are close to the same size. Well, that will solve the clothing problem for a day or so, but it's not a permanent solution.

Josef smiles at her. "You ready for a walk?"

For the first time since she came running home to him, she looks happy. "Oh, that sounds nice. I missed that."

As before, they started walking the grounds. Josef always let Beth lead without realizing that's what she was doing. He wanted her to go where she was comfortable. The whole point was to get her to talk.

"Josef, you've known Mick since before Coraline turned him?"

Josef nods. "You know that."

"What I want to know, is why you think it is that he can't see all the good things he does. All the people he's helped, make him the good man we all know and not a monster?"

"Do you want to get into this with me and not Mick?"

"I want to know what you think."

"Sometimes if a fledgling is shocked too badly the trauma can damage them forever. I'm not sure the absolute betrayal Coraline perpetrated on him wasn't the type of shock that's made it so he can never be whole again."

"Do you think there is any way for him to get past whatever it is that makes him the way he is about being a vampire?"

"I don't know. I've been trying for over fifty years, but my efforts aren't exactly subtle either. Planting redheads in his bed was not the best way to go about it." He smiles ruefully at her.

Beth makes a halfhearted attempt to hit him. "Josef, that's terrible. Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because my dear, sometimes I'm an ass. I was mad. Mick and I use to have some great times back before he saved some little blond waif from Coraline. We had a lot of fun. I was mad because I lost my drinking buddy."

She thinks about this for a minute. "Before he found me" she smiles "When you two were out raising hell together, was he that much different than he is now?"

Josef thinks back trying to compare Mick then and now. He sees that she is trying to understand. Maybe in ways that he never bothered. "I would say not too much different, not the way it counts to Mick. Not as sensitive as he is now, but the same, what he would consider, good man he is now. If he hadn't been, he wouldn't have taken the case to look for you in the first place." He toes a divot in the lawn he forgot to replace. "There are a few things you might not know. First off, he didn't know that Coraline was involved until he had taken the case to find you. He agreed to look for you for free because your mom didn't have much money. He went to your room and smelled her. If he had been as terrible as he says, he wouldn't have agreed to look for you for free. He would have walked away when he realized Coraline was involved. Now that I think back, he took quite a few cases gratis even back then." He pushes the grass back in place and glances at Beth. "Since we're talking about Mick and his hang ups, I want to ask you something. If you don't want to answer, or you want to tell me it's none of my business, that's fine but I'm curious."

She nods.

"Before you were turned when you and Mick would make love, did he ever bite you?"

She smiles at the memory. "Oh yea."

He laughs. She's practically purring. "Do you think he did it because you both enjoyed it or because he knew you liked it?"

She looked indignant. "I find it pretty hard to believe he wasn't enjoying it as much as I was."

Josef laughs at her. "Now, after you were turned, did he bite you ever?"

"Well…. no" He watches her and sees her looking down. "Since he hasn't wanted me."

Josef narrows his eyes at her. "Are you saying what I think your saying? You two haven't made love since you were turned, not once?" Selfishly Josef realizes he feels a little relief at that revelation. He gives himself a mental head slap at the jealousy raising its ugly head and for not thinking of what's best for Beth. It's not a good sign, though, that they will work it out.

Beth sighs. "Not once. I should have known right then that something wasn't right. I mean before it was…. amazing…... now he won't even…... doesn't even seem to…..." Beth shrugs and looks lost.

_Great_, Josef thinks. Not only has he damaged her sense of security, but she's also questioning a lot of other things about herself. He's surprised this hasn't blown up long before this. Usually fledglings like sex a lot and there has never been any reason to think that Beth would be any different. Since, most turns are done by lovers it's usually a nice benefit. She understood why it was different with them. Josef hadn't thought much about it because he was sure Mick would be more than happy to be there for her. If Mick is that withdrawn from her than he doubts they can work anything out. Josef shakes his head. He thinks of the sight of a very naked Beth walking the side of her freezer without anything on but her beautiful smile. Mick must be made of stone to not grab her every chance he can. For a vampire, he has some very peculiar attitudes.

Josef returns to the subject at hand. "Why do you think that is?"

Beth shakes her head. "He's not attracted to me…... or doesn't like me anymore…... maybe he's right…. maybe there is something wrong with me. Nobody wants me…. you don't want me; Mick doesn't want me."

Josef lets out a growl and pulls her into his arms. "You are out of your mind if you think I don't want you. Believe me if that was the way it was for us before it would still be that way, only…."

He hears a small smile in her voice. "Only?"

"Only better." He growls. "Mick is a fool. I want to ask you something else and like always you don't have to tell me if you don't want. Is this why he finally told you that he didn't love you the same? Was it because you didn't understand why he wouldn't make love to you?"

Beth nods at him.

The more Josef thinks about it the madder he gets. He trusted Mick and Mick better than anyone knows what she needs. _Damn him._ When they get back to the house Josef is going to call Mick and have a talk with him.

They lapse into a silence while they walk along for a bit. Josef stops and Beth turns back and waits for him. He walks up and gathers her up in his arms. He looks down at her. "I want to make sure you understand one thing. This isn't about you, this problem with Mick not wanting to make love to you, it's about Mick and his stupid hang ups. Do you understand that?"

"I guess, it's that neither do you…. I mean you say you would if it was that way for us but…..."

Josef looks down at the hurt in her eyes and can't stand it anymore; he thinks he's going to kill Mick. "Beth… I do want you; I don't want you torn between the two of us. You're having enough problems figuring out how you feel about Mick. You don't need more complications… please believe me, I do want you."

She nods but he's not sure if she believes him or not. They lapse into silence again and she leads them back to the house. It's getting late, he can feel the dawn approaching. He hopes she's tired enough from the swim and the walk to get a good night sleep. "You go on up. I have to couple of things to take care of and then I'll be up, ok?"

She gives him a tired smile and goes up the stairs.

Josef goes into his study and shuts the door. He picks up the phone to call Mick.

In the split second before Mick answers Josef hears a click on his end. There is only one person who would dare listen in on his phone calls and could even do it. She's upstairs in the master bedroom on the only extension to this phone. He shakes his head. He should have used his cell. Josef has only a second to decide what to do. It's not fair to have this conversation and not clue Mick in that they have an audience. He thinks of the way Mick has been treating Beth, and Josef thinks screw it. He's been a good guy to Mick too long on this subject and it's hurting Beth. No more. He'll let Mick hang himself or not.

Mick looks down and sees its Josef. He lets out a sigh. He knew this was coming. Mick decides he better get this over with. "Josef?"

"Mick don't come out here. I don't want you to see her for a while. It took me quite a while to get her calmed down after your last visit. That's enough."

"Josef, you can't stop me from seeing Beth."

"Want to bet me on that?" The threat of violence in Josef's voice is unmistakable.

"Dammit Josef, we can still work something out."

"You should have thought of that before you hurt her. You know, almost a year ago I had a conversation not too much different than this with you about her. I told you then that you had to come to terms with her being a vampire. I could see it coming even then and you told me you could. Then before she was turned, we did this dance over what you can and can't accept. No more. Until she tries to overrule me you don't get to see her or talk to her. If she pushes like Beth does when she really wants something, then fine. Until that happens, you don't see her again and if that means ever, so be it. I'm tired of you screwing with her head."

Josef hears Mick growl through the phone. "You want her for yourself."

Josef smiles thinly. "And what if I do? Believe me you wouldn't recognize how much of a gentleman I've been up to this point, but you know what? I've about had it. You had your chance and blew it. If I didn't think it would confuse her even more, I would have taken her to my bed a long time ago. She wants so badly to believe that someone loves her it's heart breaking. I can't believe you can't even bring yourself to make love to her. My God, are you crazy? This is Beth…... the love of your life? I trusted you to take care of her. You said you would. You know damn good and well the things they need the most at this age is a lot of fun happy sex with someone they love. If you weren't going to take care of her, if making love to her was such a hardship you should have sent her home to me."

"Yea, so you could have lots of fun happy sex with her?"

Josef growls. "You're damn right because at least I love her the way she is. This isn't supposed to be about your stupid jealous impulses. It's supposed to be about the best thing for Beth. At this point it's not you, so don't come out here."

Mick pauses he sounds defeated. "Josef, I love her, I just don't love her the same way, but I think it will be okay…...just different."

"Mick, it's not good enough. She deserves better than some halfhearted attempt and you know it. I'm doing my best to let her make her own decisions on this and not muddy things. I want her to be happy, and that's the last I'm saying on it. You stay away. If she wants to see you and pushes for it, then I'll let you see her, but that's the only way. If you come out here, I will kick your ass, you know I can and will. You've got her so confused she's taken a step or two backwards. That means I'm going to go right back to protecting her from anyone who is hurting her and that includes you."

"We'll see about this Josef." Josef hears Mick hang up and he listens for Beth to hang up and she does.

Josef sits in the chair trying to decide if he should let Beth know that he heard her on the extension. Decision made; he heads up the stairs to confront his eavesdropper. Josef enters the bedroom and senses that she's in her freezer trying to convince him that she's been there all along. He walks over and taps on the glass top and looks in at her. _Damn she's beautiful_. Beth looks up at him trying to look as innocent as she can. Josef lets her know with a look that he's not buying it. He motions to her to get up and come into the other room as he heads for the bedroom. He hopes she puts something on. This is not a conversation he wants to have with her while she's naked.

She comes out of her freezer room wrapped in her robe. "What?"

"Beth, don't ever do that again."

She knows she's been caught. "Alright. I knew you were going to call Mick and I wanted to hear. I knew when you found out that he doesn't want to touch me that you would be mad… Josef, did you mean what you said to Mick?"

"Every word. But Beth I mean it, do not listen in on my phone calls ever again. I trust you; you have to trust me." Josef sighs as he sees her fighting the tears back.

"I trust you. You guys are always talking about me and I never know what is going on. You make decisions for me and I'm sick and tired of it." And she walks off to her freezer.

Josef watches her go and admits to himself that she is right. They have done that all along and that is why she isn't the same unless she is mad at him. Maybe it is time to change his attitude as well.

Xxxxxxxx

Beth wakes up and thinks about the mess she's put them all in, she knew Josef loved her and she asked him to turn her anyway. She shouldn't have done it. As usual she was looking for a safety net. That was how she ended up hurting Josh, next it is going to be hurting Mick and that she can't bear. Beth gets up and gets dressed and goes down to Josef's study. He's on the phone with Jacob so she goes down to see the girls on her own. She knows he could be a while when it's work.

Beth goes back to see if he's done talking to Jacob and wanders into his study. She watches him going over reports. She hates to interrupt him. "Josef, you know, you don't have to stay home with me all the time. If you need to go into the office, then go. I'm fine. I'm a lot better today. I still have no idea what I'm going to do, but I'm calmer today."

Josef looks up at her and shakes his head. He gets up and comes around and sits on the corner of his desk. "No way. You heard Mick and me on the phone. I know him, he's going to stew about this and then he's going to show up. It's just a matter of when."

Beth makes a sour face at him. "You know if Mick comes out here to see me it's not the end of the world. He wouldn't hurt me."

Josef smiles sadly. "That's not the point. I told him to stay away. Beth, I told you if you wanted to see him you could. Do you?"

"No, I suppose not, at least not yet. I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to say to him and how bad it's going to hurt."

"If you change your mind and want to see him that's one thing but I told him to stay away. If it takes me kicking Mick's ass a couple times to make my point, so be it."

She can tell he's not going to change his mind.

Josef switches to what he hopes will be a more pleasant topic. "You know, I think you need to go back to work."

She looks at him surprised at the comment. "How come? I wanted to do that a month ago and you and Mick said I wasn't ready."

He smiles at her. "And we can't be wrong? Talking to you about Mick last night, seeing you trying to figure things out has reminded me how much that inquisitive mind of yours needs to be engaged." He smiles at her. "If you want, I'll buy you a newspaper."

Beth laughs. "No, I don't think that will be necessary."

"We talked about it before you were turned. You said you could do print to get back to work and not have to worry about being on camera. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you when you asked. You were right when you suggested it, your instincts were right. You need to go back to work."

Josef continues, "You know, maybe what Mick misses isn't the human you, but the human you were before. I hate to say it, but you aren't the same because you aren't all the way back on your feet from fledgling status."

"Am I that different?"

"Some, but it's my fault because I haven't been listening to you. I was trying too hard to protect you. In fact, Mick and I are both guilty of that." He turns and smiles at her. "You do that to people you love; you get overprotective."

Before Josef knows it, she is in his arms and out of nowhere she is kissing him. Not the kind of kiss he is used to from her, this is a full on the mouth, 'baby oh, baby I love you and I want you' kiss.

_Damn_ xxxxxxxxxxx

**Comments are always welcome.**


	4. Chapter 4

**As much as I wish it. Moonlight doesn't belong to me in any way shape or form. I like to come play in their sandbox.**

xxxxxx

It surprises him and before he knows what is going on, he is reacting to her, returning her kiss and deepening it. She is tasting him and running her tongue over his fangs as they are starting to come to the forefront. He lets out a growl of pleasure and he feels a smile on her lips. She reaches under his shirt. It feels like little jolts of electricity everywhere as she touches him. He finally comes to his senses and grabs her wrists and he breaks the kiss. She smiles at him. "I want you." He can hear the desire loud and clear in her voice. She shakes her hands free from his grasp and starts to snake her hands under his shirt again. He stands up and moves away from her. He's breathing rapidly and he knows his fangs are showing and his eyes are crystal blue. He can see the tears glistening in her eyes. Her back is stiff, and she turns to leave the room. "Damn" he growls. He pushes the predator down and returns to his human face. He grabs her and turns her around so she's facing him. "Where in the hell is this coming from? Do you what you are doing to me?" He knows how he sounds, and he can't help it. His voice sounds ragged and dry to his ears. He wants her so bad and if she were any other woman, but Beth, he would have had her a long time ago... but not this…. not Beth…. she's not his…... he hears the predator in his head asking _and why not? You want her, I want her, we want her, and she wants us._

Beth swings around and tries to leave. He grabs her arm, this time bringing her back in front of him. He brings her over to the couch and makes her sit down so she's sitting across from him. "Yesterday you wanted to have this conversation and I put you off. Well, I'm sorry because apparently we need to have it right now."

He looks across at her and she's got her arms crossed and she's staring at him. He can see her trying to close herself off so she can protect herself. He gets up and sits on the coffee table so that his knees are on the outside of hers, just touching. He needs her to understand that he's not abandoning her or rejecting her, he's just not going to sleep with her. _Right now_

"Beth, where is this coming from? In all the time we've known each other, you've never done anything remotely like that. Why now? Is this because you feel like Mick abandoned you or are you trying to get even with him for hurting you?"

She starts to cry. "I can't want you? It can't be that simple, that I want you?"

"No, and you know it. You and Mick have been practically joined at the hip since that day he talked to you at the fountain. Now after all this you want to have sex with me?"

"No Josef, not have sex. I want to make love to you. I love you too. I love you both. Don't you know, I'm good at that?" He hears the bitterness in her voice. She's remembering Lindsey and keeping him around while she and Mick worked something out.

Josef takes her hands in both of his. He runs his thumbs over her palms trying to calm her. "You are not a bad person. What happened to Josh was not your fault. But if we do this, if I take you upstairs and make love to you, how do you think it makes me feel the next time I see Mick? Worse yet, how does it make me feel when I see in your eyes the next day that you regret it?" She starts to protest. "You would, if you haven't come to some closure with Mick. I know you. You're still having problems with the fact that you were in love with Josh and Mick at the same time. What do you think it would feel like if you were still in a relationship with Mick and we made love?" She looks down, he knows her so well.

"I have always tried to be honest with you on everything, except this, and it's time for that too. Yes, you know that I love you, you know that I want you. You asked so you could bring it out in the open. Maybe that's a good thing; I don't know. It doesn't matter how I feel. Mick is my friend. Even if I would like to wring his neck most of the time; and I love you because I'm your sire and I want you both to be happy. I think you need to leave me out of it."

He can see her trying not to cry. "If I promise to be good, will you hold me here in the dark and listen to me?"

"Of course. Move over."

She moves to the middle of the couch. He sits in the corner and holds his arm out and she snuggles up next to him. He's not sure what's going through her mind or what she's feeling and that bothers him. He should be able to tell. The only thing he's getting from her is confusion. "Josef, when you fought Lola and got hurt and I fed you, why did you think I did it?"

He laughs. "Got hurt? You shot me!"

Beth smiles. "If you hadn't cut Lola's head off so neatly, she'd have taken those last two bullets instead of you. It's your own fault."

He smiles in the dark. "The truth?"

"Yes, the truth."

"Because I thought you were a crazy human that trusted vampires far too much. Remember when I came to see you after that to thank you?" He feels her nod against his side. "I was so blown away. To be honest it scared me to death that you trusted me that much."

"I fed you, for a lot of reasons; you were Mick's friend, I owed you for saving me, but most of all because I loved you even then. It wasn't the kind of love it is now, but it was there all the same. I went back to Mick because it was where you said I belonged, and I thought you were right. I'm not so sure anymore."

"Beth, I don't think it's meant to be right now." Suddenly he feels like he's going to do something stupid. He also hears a car coming up the driveway. He's sure Beth is too upset to being paying attention.

He moves her away from her and he stands up. "I have to go for a walk."

"Can I go?"

"No. Please I need some time to think."

He can't look at her. He can smell the tears in the air. Damn, he hates hurting her. Maybe he will beat the hell out of Mick for starting this. Josef heads for the front door and walks out into the darkness. As soon as he closes the door behind him, he looks out into the night and sees Mick approaching from the shadows. "I know you're there. Do I look like I've lost my ability to smell?"

Mick walks into the moonlight. "I want to see her Josef, now."

Josef sighs. "You're going to make me kick your ass, aren't you? Undoubtedly you think Beth will run out here when she realizes you're out here getting your head handed to you and come to your rescue. That may happen but think about this. She was eavesdropping on our call last night and she heard me say that I didn't want you out here. She also heard me say, that if she pushed, she could see you. You remember me saying that?"

Mick nods.

"Well, did you get a phone call from her, even one? She doesn't want to see you. I know that hurts your ego and you can't imagine that the woman whose heart you've broken doesn't want to see you, but she doesn't." Josef starts to growl low in his chest. "I told you not to come out here, and I will hurt you if that's what it takes for you to get the message."

Mick paces back and forth in front of Josef for a minute. "Josef I've come to a decision and I need to talk to her about it. It will be better if I do."

Josef blocks his path and the two of them start to circle on another.

Beth is in the house not knowing why Josef left to go for a walk without her. She considers going after him. Then she feels waves of anger flowing off Mick and Josef. She realizes they are outside. She looks out the window and sees that so far, there's been no contact made. She can see this is going to escalate and someone could get hurt and she won't have that, not because of her. She decides it's the time to leave.

xxxxx

Josef and Mick are circling each other when Josef hears the unmistakable roar of the Ferrari. He stops to look down the driveway, and he sees her driving way too fast. She's fish tailing all over the place. He watches as she straightens the car out at the last minute and misses the front gate pillar by a few inches. The guards mistake the driver for Josef, assuming no one else would take the car so the gate swings open.

"You know, this whole mess is your entire fault. I'm going to go grab the Porsche. I'm sure she's going to have a head start, and unless she cracks it up somewhere, I won't catch her. I'm going after her, you can either go or not."

Josef gets in the Porsche and guns the engine, Mick jumps in as they speed out the gate.

Josef grabs his phone and calls back to the house. "Robert, she's gone. Dammit. If she comes back, call me and let me know she's home. Go tell Emily and the girls the same and you tell Emily if she hides her, I'll wring both their necks. It's important Emily know not to hide Beth."

"Josef what happened?"

"I disappointed her. What else?"

Josef makes one more call. "Ryder, I need you to track the Ferrari." Nobody in their right mind, even a vampire, has a car worth that much and doesn't have a way to track it.

xxxxxx

Beth is swerving down the mile-long road from the top of the hill down into the valley below Josef's house. She thinks grimly she should crash Josef's Ferrari, but then he would catch up to her. She saw the two of them in the driveway and she's sure they're right behind her. Problem is, Josef drives much better than she does. She doubts he's ready to run her off the road to stop her. He'd hurt his damn car if he did that. _Damn them_.

Beth finally hits the freeway. She knows they don't have a prayer of finding her, especially if she can think of a good place to hide. She's sure, by now, he's alerted Robert and the girls, and Mick is probably with him in the Porsche. Beth knows Josef, and he always covers all the bases. So, he and Mick will be looking in all her favorite places. To hell with them, maybe she'll check into a hotel. damn she forgot her purse, so of course she has no money and no license. Crap, if she gets pulled over, she could end up in jail and what would she do then? If that happens, she would have to call one or the other of them because she sure can't stay in jail.

To hell with it, she's going back to her own apartment. If they show up, she won't let them in.

Xxxxxxx

Ryder is downloading the GPS tracking map to Josef's car in real time so he can see where she is going. It doesn't take long, and he knows where she is headed.

Josef pulls up and sees his car sitting in her old parking spot. He lets out a sigh. "This is bad. This was not going to help her."

Mick looks at him and shakes his head. "Josef, what happened? This is not about us fighting."

"Oh, I don't know, let's review, how far back do you want to go? How far back do we go to see how we were all headed to this moment?"

Mick hears the bitterness in Josef's voice; he knows it's covering a lot of pain. This is bad enough for Mick, but he imagines Josef is getting a double dose.

"Hmmmm this damn little blond took a shot at me in the dark because she was scared. Not so scared that she wasn't going to try and take me out with her. Then we skip forward, and she stays at my house, in my bed for a week, half the time crying herself to sleep on my shoulder. Oh, and let's see, did I mention that she finally did shoot me and then forced me to drink from her neck to save my life? Damnit Mick!" Josef slams his hand into the steering wheel.

Mick doesn't say anything; he lets Josef vent. "If all that isn't bad enough, she comes to me and wants me to turn her. I'm tempted to tell her no because I'm afraid I won't want to ever let her go. If I don't, I risk someone doing it who doesn't care for her. Oh, and the idea of anyone else having that kind of connection with her drives me nuts. Did I mention her boyfriend is an idiot and went along with this against his own better judgment? So once again, the little blond is in my house, for far longer than a week. She is sleeping next to me or in the next room, wearing clothes when it is convenient. Then her boyfriend, who didn't want her to be turned, decides that she isn't the same. He rejects the woman who has loved him and pulled him out of the dark, how many times?" Mick is looking down.

"She goes to the only other vampire that she knows and loves in any real way, her sire. He happens to be so deeply in love with her that he can barely breathe and guess what? He sends her packing as well."

"Mick, I have to ask you, are you out of your mind? You can't even bring yourself to make love to her? I can't even imagine. you have no idea the damage you've done. I had no idea, or I would have come and gotten her a long time ago."

"Josef, she's not Beth...I kept thinking I could get past it and it would be okay again." Josef watches Mick try to grasp for the right words. "It's stupid, I know it. I can't help it. She's not warm, she doesn't smell the same; she has no heartbeat."

Josef snorts at him. "No kidding you idiot. She's dead. What the hell did you think she was going to be like?"

Mick shakes his head. "You know the worse part? I think it's more that she doesn't need me anymore. Does that say so much about me? I spent so many years looking out for her that I don't know how to be anything else besides her protector. Now she doesn't need me. Talk about messed up. I could get used to the other stuff. I was married to a vamp. I know what it feels like to make love to one. It can be very, very good, but I don't know what to do about the other part."

Mick leans forward and puts his head on the dash. "I need to go up and say good-bye to her. That's what I wanted to tell her tonight when you wouldn't let me see her. It's time she was with someone who isn't going to compare this Beth with the human one. I want to be her friend again, someday."

Josef shakes his head. "That's what I'm talking about. I'm so busy trying to protect her that I'm not thinking straight. I'm sorry I didn't at least ask you what you wanted."

Mick smiles. "Did you ever explain forever in vampire terms to her?"

Josef smiles. "No. I'll have to do that. It might help her adjust to what is going on."

Josef shakes his head "Mick, if you say good-bye to her, you'll lose her. It's that simple. I will not give her up again. I won't do it. Once is bad enough. I've tried like hell to give her enough room to decide what she wants. If she makes a move in my direction I sure as hell am not going to turn her away again. And believe me it won't take much encouragement to get her to come to me again."

Mick closes his eyes. "I don't like hurting her. You're right. I don't think that I can get past this right now. I can't stand seeing her hurt because I do love her." Mick sighs. "Maybe the two of you need to be together for a while, however you want. I'll always love her, and she'll always love me, but that doesn't mean that she's meant to be with me now that she's not human."

Josef nods his head. "She pretty much said the same thing."

Josef snorts. "You know she's going to be pissed when she figures out that you and I are working her life out for her. She hates it when we do that."

Mick shakes his head. "Well, then she shouldn't have put us in the position of having to do it, by loving us both."

Xxxxxxx

**Comments are always welcome. **


	5. Chapter 5

**As much as I wish it. Moonlight doesn't belong to me in any way shape or form. I like to come play in their sandbox.**

Xxxxxxx

Mick gets out of the car and goes up to say good-bye. His steps are slow and hesitant. Is this what he wants? Josef said it himself, if Mick gives her up now; she's gone. Josef will fight for her. Mick smiles sadly. At least if he's losing her to someone else it's someone, he knows will be good to her and love her. He reaches her door and stands there, not wanting to hurt them both again. He hears her through the door telling him to open the door and come in. As usual her curiosity has gotten the best of her. He opens the door and walks in. She gives him a sad smile. "Hey."

Mick walks over and takes both of Beth's hands in his. He smiles sadly. "Beth, I'm sorry. I'll always love you, but right now it's best if you move back to Josef's. We could be friends for a couple of decades and see how it goes."

She smiles at him through the tears. "That's why you didn't fight me on this isn't it? You wanted me to be alive even if it didn't work out so someday it might."

Mick smiles at her, "That, and I can't imagine a world without you in it." He hugs her and looks down at her. "You know, Josef loves you an awful lot."

She snorts at him. "We'll see."

Mick hugs her again "I'm going to leave town for a while. The weather here is starting to get to me. I'll pack up your stuff. Josef can have one of the guys come by and take it to you." He looks down at her. "You know you can always call me if it's an emergency." He leans down and places a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Beth nods. She remembers the excuse he always gave her for staying so long in LA was the weather. When they both knew it was to be there for her. She realizes it is over. He gives her one last hug and leaves. Beth lays down on the couch and curls up in a ball trying to keep from crying herself to sleep again. _Damn men._

Josef gets out of the car as Mick approaches. "How is she?"

"You're right. You need to get her out of that apartment. Not a good place for her to be. We said our good-byes. I told her, and I'll tell you. I'm leaving town for a while. Before I leave, I'll pack her stuff up and call you. Remember Josef, you can always get me on my cell if it's an emergency. No matter what, if either of you needs me, I'll be there."

Josef nods. "Sure. Go ahead and take the Porsche back to the house. That way you can pick up your car and I don't have to have somebody make an extra trip."

"Thanks. I know you'll love her and take good care of her." They shake hands and Mick takes off in the Porsche.

Josef heads upstairs to get Beth out of her apartment. He approaches the door and can hear her crying. This was a bad idea. She should not have come back here. She hasn't been back since she was turned. Now that she's miserable. Back in the last place where she was human, saying good-bye to Mick. She might start to regret her decision and that would be terrible.

He raises his hand to knock on the door and before he can, she swings it open and looks up at him. Before he knows it, she's weeping in his arms. He picks her up, grabs the Ferrari keys off the table and heads for the car. She wraps her arms around his neck and buries her face in his shoulder.

He doesn't want her in that apartment. He should have talked her into getting rid of it when she left her old life behind. He looks down at her as he carries her to the car. He realizes he has spent an inordinate amount of time with her crying in his arms. He opens the door to the car and puts her in and shuts the door. Josef gets in and drives them home.

She's not crying anymore. She's looking out the side window not looking at him or speaking, finally she falls asleep. He pulls into the garage and turns to Jack. He knows it's not fair. Jack wouldn't have known to stop Beth from taking the Ferrari. All the same Josef growls at him as he goes around the car to get Beth. Jack lowers his eyes. He knows he's going to hear about Beth being able to get her hands on the keys. He will be lucky is Josef doesn't skin him alive.

Josef pushes down his anger at the man and opens the passenger's side door and picks Beth up. He carries her inside the house and Robert meets him at the door. "You know I wanted to beat the hell out of Mick for breaking her heart. You keep this up and you'll be next. This is bullshit."

"You're right. It is, and it ends here." Josef looks down as she stirs in his arms. "I'll be right back. As usual of late, she's worn out from crying because of all the idiots around her."

Robert smiles when Josef says that. It sounds like he has come to his senses.

Josef takes her upstairs and puts her on the bed. She curls up as he covers her with a light blanket and goes back downstairs.

Josef finds Robert in the kitchen. "I want you to call a storage company, something close, and rent a couple of big lockers. If she wants something, she won't have to go far to get it. Then I want you to arrange with a moving company to have her stuff in her apartment boxed up and put into storage. I don't want her going back there again. That is not a good idea. There shouldn't be anything in the apartment that can't get packed away. She hasn't been living there for some time. Get someone in to clean out the apartment and do whatever to pay off the lease. I repeat, I don't want her going back there."

Robert shakes his head and turns to do what Josef asked.

Josef knows that look. "Ok, what was that for?"

Robert shrugs. "I agree with you. The apartment needs to go. She should never go back there again. Did you happen to mention to her that you were going to do this or are you still making all her decisions for her?"

Josef shakes his head. "This is too important for me to leave it up to her. I'm making this decision whether she likes it or not, as her sire and her friend. If she starts wishing she was back in her old life then she's going to end up like Mick, and one of those is enough. I won't have her end up like that. When she asked me to sire her, she gave me the power to step in and do what needs to be done. This is detrimental to her. Robert, do it. I'll worry about the fallout later."

Robert turns to the phone to do as Josef asked. Josef opens his phone and calls Jacob. "How are things at the office?"

"Fine. You know this place it can manage on its own. You've got some of the best people and they are loyal."

_More like scared shitless_ Josef thinks.

"Are you going to be gone for a while?" Jacob asks

"Yes," is all the growl he gets. Jacob knows better than to ask Josef anything, but if he had to guess it has to do with Beth. Since she apparently got away with the Ferrari. "You tell everyone they report to you and if you even suspect there is anything I should know, you call me."

"Will do. I'll also email you weekly reports like before."

"Good." Josef can feel her stirring upstairs. "I've got to go."

Josef takes the stairs two at a time. He walks into the bedroom and sees her sitting on the bed with her back to the door. "Go get in the shower. You're a mess." He says to her back. He watches her back stiffen and he smiles. He can almost see her resolve to not do what he says. "Ok, if you are going to act like a spoiled brat then I'm going to start treating you like one." Josef walks across the room, throws her up over his shoulder and kicks the bathroom door open. He reaches into the shower with one hand and turns the cold water on. He sets her down in the middle of it, clothes and all, and turns around and walks out.

A stunned Beth recovers quickly. He hears her growl at him as he walks out of the bathroom. And he sees a wet washcloth sail past his head. He grabs it as it goes by and turns and throws it right back at her. It hits her right across the face. He watches as she grabs it off her face. She glares at him, the anger bubbling up and threatening to overtake her. _Good_, and he walks away.

Beth stands in the shower with all her clothes on wondering what has changed. Clearly Josef is not treating her like he did before she took off. _Oh, that's it. He's mad because I took his precious car._ She smiles to herself and gets out of her wet clothes in the shower and cleans up. When she gets out of the shower and gets dressed Josef is gone. _Good. He thinks so damn much of his car, I'll fix him._

Beth goes down to the garage and looks around. Jack is standing there shaking his head and he looks behind her. She didn't think Josef would be down here waiting for her. Josef looks at Jack. "Jack don't worry about it. I'll take care of this." Jack decides to make himself scarce and hightails it out the side door. Josef looks at Beth. He's got the Ferrari keys dangling between his fingers. "Looking for these?"

She shakes her head. "Actually no." she walks over to the workbench where the tools are laying around. "No, actually I was looking for this." Beth picks up a hammer and heads for the Ferrari, but Josef has prepared himself for about anything. He gets to the car and has her hands in his before she can strike. Beth tries to wiggle free of him but he's not having any of it. "Like I said, you want to act like a spoiled brat, I'll treat you like one." He forces her to drop the hammer.

He throws her over his shoulder, again and marches up the stairs with her. Beth's fangs are showing, and her eyes are turning crystal blue. She's kicking, screaming and running her nails deep into his back, ruining another of his shirts. It hurts like hell, but it doesn't stop Josef for a minute. Even in full vamp she's no match for him.

Robert watches them go and smiles.

Josef opens the bedroom door and sets her down inside. "You can stay up here until you're ready to stop acting like a brat. You've been making everyone who loves you crazy and it stops now. I've babied you for the last time. You start acting like a reasonable adult or you'll stay in here for the rest of your unnatural life. You are not a fledgling anymore, so stop acting like it."

She starts to interrupt him, and he stops her. "There's more. We might as well get it all out at once. As your friend and your sire, I will not permit you to go back to that apartment again."

She looks at him shocked. "What do you mean you won't permit me to go back to that apartment again? I've got news for you; I'll do what I damn well please and not you or anyone else can stop me."

Josef takes a deep breath. "We can do this the easy way and you can hear me out. Or you can fight me every step of the way. I'm telling you right now for your own wellbeing, your own mental health; you are not going back there again. I will tie you to the freezer if I have to."

Beth looks at his eyes and knows he's not kidding, he'd do it. She decides she might as well listen to him. She crosses her arms and stares right back at him.

He watches her and tries to hide a smile. _Good, that fire is still in there somewhere_. Josef tries to stare her down and she doesn't even flinch. _That's my girl._

"Ok Josef, you've got one chance to convince me that there is a good reason."

Josef paces back and forth a couple of times. "You would agree with me that Mick is not a well-adjusted vampire?"

Beth shrugs and then nods. "Yea, but what's that got to do with my apartment?"

"Beth, I should have insisted you get rid of it when you left your old life behind. Sitting in that apartment crying about your new life is not healthy. I'm afraid you're going to regret what you are as much as Mick does and that would be awful. One is enough. I don't think you could survive like Mick does. You're not going to like this, but your stuff is going into a storage locker close by and your lease closed out. I'm sorry, but this is important enough that there is no compromise."

Josef can feel the anger coming off her directed right at him.

Softly he adds. "I love you and I don't want to see you end up hating what you are."

Beth takes a swing at him and comes very close to hitting him.

He dodges her and grabs her wrists and holds her tight. "Please stop."

She collapses against him. "Josef, what are we going to do? I'm not crazy about the way I've been acting either, but every time I think about you or Mick it hurts so bad. I love you both so much. I can't take both of you abandoning me." Josef starts to protest, and she holds up her hand. "I know that's not what you're doing, but that's what it feels like and now your taking away my apartment. It wasn't much, but it was mine."

Josef sighs, well it's now or never. "I want you to think about something. When you were human you thought in terms of Mick being with you 'forever'. To a human that means maybe 60 years, if you're lucky, right?"

Beth nods her agreement.

"But baby, it's not like that anymore." He wraps his arms around her. "I'm going to tell you a truth that you might as well learn right now. There is no such thing as forever to a vampire. I hate to say this, but there are damn few vampire relationships that last forever. Nobody can stand anyone that long." He smiles at her. "I think one relationship at a time is enough. If only because the idea of two male vampires you love, killing each other is painful for all involved. I don't think you have to make any long-term plans with anyone. You have to end one relationship before you start another."

Beth smiles at him a little sadly. "Already did that."

Josef nods at her. "Are you sure that's what you want? I love you, you know that, but I don't want you bouncing back and forth between us. Someone is going to get hurt if you do that. Beth, I've been guilty of not listening to you. I've been so busy protecting you that I haven't listened to you tell me what you need. If you must know, I fell in love protecting you and I never left that place. As for the apartment, you can see I'm still doing it."

Josef shakes his head. "Besides, I thought you wanted to stay here with me? Look if you need a refuge, I'll get you another place, but not that one."

Beth smiles up at him. "I do want to stay with you; that would be very nice."

He smiles back at her.

"But I need something, some place I can go. Josef how long have you lived here?"

He thinks about it. "This house has been here in one form or another for 70 years or so. Why?"

She laughs, "Because you permeate this place. There's no room for me here on a permanent basis. I need a niche, a space of my own, a place to work."

He smiles at her. "I have a very good idea on that very subject, but I need you to trust me. I want to surprise you."

She smiles. "I can do that, but you have to trust me and stop trying to protect me all the time. I think that's half of Mick's problem. He can't adjust to who he is in my life anymore."

Josef smiles. "I'm not Mick." He draws her close. "So, it's all taken care of? You're not going to have two very volatile jealous vampires killing each other over you, right?"

Beth smiles at him. "Yea, and I kept a friend to boot."

Josef let out a small sigh. "Good." Josef backs away from her; he takes her hands and looks at her. "I love you so much." Josef brings her hand up to his lips and kisses her palm. "I want you; I want to make love to you." He brings her close and kisses her. Their tongues tasting, touching and exploring each other. Josef breaks the kiss. "You know, this is going to be different now."

Beth looks at him not quite understanding what he is trying to tell her. "Different how?"

Josef mentally slaps Mick upside the head. This discussion should have happened a couple months ago. "Well, you'll admit that you're different since the last time you and Mick made love, right?"

"Oh, you mean because I'm a vampire now." She doesn't want to talk about her relationship with Mick, with Josef.

Josef swears he can read her mind. Finally, he's getting less confusion from her. "Come here." He takes her hand, and they go sit on the couch. Beth snuggles into his arms. "I don't ever want you to have to second guess what you want or need to say to me." He smiles down at her. "I'm four hundred years old. I'm not going to get mad because you need to say something about Mick and the time you spent together." Josef leans in and kisses and nips at her neck. Beth lets out a small moan. _Mmmm that feels good._

Beth smiles. "I was thinking that I know what to expect; I've been with a vampire."

Josef shakes his head a little. "It's not the same. You understand the mechanics from Mick's point of view, meaning that you know about biting. You don't know about it from your perspective. You remember when Mick was always telling you that it was dangerous, and he was afraid he would hurt you?"

She nods.

"Well, there are reasons for that, and I want you to understand. Your sensory abilities are far better than they were before. Every new experience good or bad is going to be better or worse than it would have been when you were human. You know how much better all your senses are now. You see more, you hear more, and your sense of touch and being touched is far more sensitive." To punctuate his point, he nips at her collarbone and hears her moan. He taps her on the nose and smiles at her. "It's also one of the reasons you're a bit more volatile than you use to be."

Beth smiles devilishly at him. "What you're telling me is, that besides the biting, it's going to be even better than it was when I was human."

He smirks at her. "That goes without saying. What I'm trying to tell you is that at first, until you get use to the sensory overload, it's going to be easy to get lost in the whole experience and lose control."

Beth looks a little frightened and Josef starts to kick himself. "Look, I don't want you scared, there's no reason." I want you to understand that vampires are predators. We're very physical, and sometimes it's a good thing that we heal so fast. So, if that part of you takes over its expected and don't worry. Its why Mick was afraid he might hurt you when you were human."

She looks at him questioningly "You don't think I could hurt you, right?"

Josef smiles. "No, baby, I don't think you can hurt me."

He leans into her and kisses her. A small moan escapes from her and he lets out a possessive growl. Her hands are running across his chest and soon it's a mass of arms touching here, feeling there. He's cupping her ass, holding her as close as he can in this position. He moans and slides down the couch so she's laying on top of him never breaking the kiss, tasting, teasing of things to come. Finally, they break the kiss he looks into her beautiful blue eyes. She smiles at him. She can feel him pressing against her in all the right places. She giggles. "You really do want me."

**Xxxxxxx**

**Comments are always welcome. **


	6. Chapter 6

**As much as I wish it. Moonlight doesn't belong to me in any way shape or form. I like to come play in their sandbox.**

xxxxxxx

Beth looks around the room and smiles. Josef was true to his word. He gave her, her own space and it is wonderful.

A couple weeks after he promised her the surprise, they had a visitor. The man is tall and very well dressed, but Beth can see that at one time this was a man who had worked hard with his hands. He's carrying a box with several cardboard tubes sticking out of it. Josef shakes the man's hand and introduces him to Beth. "Beth, I want you to meet George Robins; he's an architect. He designed this house." Beth smiles and shakes his hand.

George smiles at Beth. "I hear you need some space."

Beth looks at Josef and is a little embarrassed. She doesn't want anyone to think she doesn't love Josef. George holds up his hand. "Listen, I do more of these than you can imagine. Everyone needs a place to work and think, especially if you live with a guy like this."

Josef glowers at him. "He's mad because I took him to the cleaners at our last poker party."

George laughs. "Yea, and now I can see why you haven't been back."

Josef growls. "Down boy."

George holds up his hand. "No worries. Do you have a place I can lay these out?"

Josef walks over to a large table he had set up with three chairs sitting at it.

George looks at Beth. "Ok, Did Josef tell you anything about this?"

Beth smiles at Josef. "No. He wanted it to be a surprise."

George looked at Josef. "Which one do you want to start with?"

"The main house." Josef answers.

George grabs a tube marked with an orange stripe. He lays out the plans. "These are the floor plans for this house. Right here is Josef's study, the room we are in now. This is the hallway that leads down to this part of the house." He looks up at her to see if she's following him.

Beth nods.

George lays down a clear overlay over the top of the plans. "Now see these new lines. We'll knock out this wall. Then add another small hallway that leads into a room for you to have an office, or whatever you want in it. It will be set up so you can jack in computers or whatever on any wall you want. We'll run a high-speed line in for you and all the jacks for all the electronics you might want to put in there. Josef said you don't mind windows, so we'll put them clear across this outside wall if you don't mind giving up the space. Once you put in windows you've made the wall useless for anything else. We'll cover the windows with the UV protection that Josef has on the house and downtown buildings. How's that sound?"

Beth is beaming at Josef. George watches them and smiles. "Fine, I would guess."

George continues, "Now for the big surprise."

Beth looks at Josef a little perplexed. "There's more?"

George smiles. "Much more and for this we need your opinion."

Josef watches her for her reaction. "George and I have gone over several different plans for a small house down by the lake here on the property. You know, like a small summerhouse. We need you to pick one."

Beth got up and she grabbed Josef's hand and drags him out of the room. Before they leave, she turns to George. "We'll be right back."

George snorts and starts laying plans out on the table.

Beth takes Josef into the kitchen. She hugs him tight and looks up at him. "Thank you. I can't believe you thought of all this." She leans in and kisses him, it doesn't take but a minute, but Josef knows if they don't get back in there now, they won't at all. He smiles at her "Come on. Let's get this over with and then we can go back to the thanking phase of the surprise." Beth hugs him again and they return to the study.

They went back in and George has a stack of plans laid out on the table. "Josef and I weeded it down to these last six. Now we need you to pick out which one you like best, and I'll get in here and start building."

They spend the rest of the evening pouring over the plans. Finally, Beth picks out the one that she likes the best, with some modifications. George says it will take about six months to get all the work completed. Josef and George shake hands. George left with the promise the right palms will be greased to get the permits breezed through.

xxxxxxxxx

Beth snorts at the memory and thinks she should do a story on that. City Hall corruption is always good for readers. Josef, reading her mind, shakes his head. She smiles at him innocently and files the information away for a later examination.

Beth walks over to Josef. "Hey, did I mention that I wanted to thank you for my new space?"

He smirks at her. "You mentioned something about it."

She pushes his suit coat off his shoulders. "Got to get you out of that stuffy suit." She pulls his shirt out of his pants while he's kissing her neck. Beth unbuttons his shirt and pushes it back off his shoulders and it joins his coat on the floor.

Xxxxxxxx

Beth doesn't wait for her office to be finished, before she goes back to work. She thought about doing print, but then wondered if there is a chance she could work as a reporter back at Buzzwire. She decides to see Mo. "Hey there girl, you get bored yet? Any chance I can get you to come back to work."

Beth smiles. "I'm wondering if I could do stories like I use to, but you could have someone else read them on-line?"

Mo scrunches her nose at her. "Beth, I'd love to have you back, but why don't you want to do the taping? You're a natural, blond and beautiful in California."

Beth shrugs and thinks about what she can tell Mo that she'll believe. "I don't know if you know this, but I'm living with Josef Kostan. You remember him from when his building was attacked that time. Josef is afraid of having me be too visible. He's afraid someone might try to hurt me to get to him."

Mo nods. "All that money, he's probably right. I didn't know you and Kostan. Wow Beth, someday you'll have to tell me what happened to your P.I." Mo regrets it as soon as it's out of her mouth. The look on Beth's face is so sad.

Beth shrugs. "Just didn't work out. Anyway, I can't blame Josef for worrying so I told him I wouldn't be visible."

Mo waves her hand dismissively. "Well, this is LA I won't have any trouble finding a girl to read the words. I'd love to have you back. It's so hard to find anyone that is as good at investigative journalism like you are. You never give up, and you're smart. It's more than worth it to have to hire a talking head for your work."

Beth hugged Mo. "Thanks. I'll start back tomorrow. I've got several things on my mind that I want to start checking on for stories."

Beth heads to Josef's office to tell him the good news. She walks into his office and he snaps his fingers, and everyone leaves. He didn't have to do that. They all know when Beth shows up that everything pretty much comes to a standstill. Beth walks across and kisses Josef. "Hey, I have a job. I'm going back to Buzzwire."

Josef frowns a little before he can stop himself. "Are you going to be taping again?"

Beth hugs him. "No, I couldn't think what to tell Mo. I told her you asked me not to, so that I wouldn't be so visible because you were afraid someone would try and use me to get to you. You don't mind that I said that do you?"

"Well, it's not too far from the truth. Besides the vamp stuff, I would rather you stayed under the radar. I've made more than a few enemies over the years. You don't mind not taping, do you?"

Beth shrugs. "I suppose a little, but I knew before you turned me that I was going to have to give that up. I don't think I mind as much as I thought I would. If I weren't a vamp, I'd have to give it up in a couple years anyway. I wouldn't be pretty enough or blond enough." Beth smiles. "Mo did say that she could get any pretty girl to read what I wrote. The hard part is finding someone who has good investigative instincts and can write a story. That made me happy."

Josef smiles at her obvious pride in the compliment. "You know she's right. It's hard to find smart people with good instincts. You remember what I told you. If you ever want to give up the journalism, I've always got a job for you. So, what are you going to do your first story on?"

Beth tilts her head. "I've got several ideas I want to start working on. There is some bad gang activity going on in downtown, and I hear that there is more smuggling going on at the port."

Josef scowls at her. "Do you think I could get you to take a bodyguard with you?"

Beth holds up her hand. "Don't even start. I'll be fine. It's not like it was before when I needed someone to watch over me. I'm not human anymore. I'll be fine."

Josef sighs. "Is there any way I could get you to please even consider it?"

Beth thinks about it for a minute. "I'll tell you what. If I I'm going into a bad part of town or where there will be a high concentration of dangerous characters, I'll take one of the security guys with me. The rest of the time I'm on my own. How's that?"

In truth, it was more than he thought he would get so he takes it, with hope he can talk her into more protection later. He smiles at her. "That's a start." And before she can say anymore, he holds up his hand. "Baby, I love you and I want you safe. I'll take what I can get." He reaches across to her and pulls her into his arms and kisses her like he never wants to let her go. She lets out a small moan. Josef starts to run his hands up her backside and Beth breaks the kiss. She smiles at him. "I love you Josef, but if I stay here, you're going to try and boost me up on the desk and take me right here."

Josef leers at her. "Would that be so bad?"

Beth laughs. "Not so bad. Not something I'm comfortable with since your entire staff is in the next room and they all have vamp hearing." Beth laughs, "I'll race you home if you want."

Josef's phone rings and he glanced down at the call. He sighs. "Sorry, babe. I've still got things to do here. But if you want to stay…. "

Beth kisses him and walks towards the door. "I'll see you at home." She says with an inviting smile and leaves.

Josef answers the phone. "Jenny?"

"Hey, Josef. How's my favorite competition? Although it seems like you're not so busy trying to get all my girls anymore, why is that?"

Josef doesn't say anything. "Oh, yea, that's right. That little blond vamp that used to belong to Mick is now living with you. Refresh my memory, Josef, isn't she the same one that got Mick off the tap?"

"Jenny, did you call to bust me about Mick and Beth, or is there a reason for this?"

Jenny sighs, "I thought you'd like to know, he's in New York and he's back on tap again. So far, he hasn't gone off the deep end. He's working his way through the local female population at an amazing rate."

Josef snorts, but doesn't comment.

"Shit, Josef, if you were going to take his woman the least you could do is keep track enough to know how he's doing."

"I am Jenny. I am. How do you come by all this information? Oh, wait, if he's back on tap you're hearing it through the freshies. You must be doing exchanges with someone in New York. Mick always did make them very happy to donate. It's one of the reasons I never imagined he could give it up. The girl's reaction shows how much he likes it. Jenny, I've got people watching him, not close enough to know his every move. They'll intervene if he starts to get weird and, for Mick, this is not weird behavior in the least. It's classic Mick pre-Beth. He'll nail anything female, trying to burn her out of his head, well not anything. If I know Mick, there are no blonds."

Josef pauses. He doesn't need to explain himself, but this pisses him off. "Oh, and Jenny, for the record, he left Beth and not because of me. She's a vamp now, her choice. You know his issues. You figure it out." And he hangs up.

xxxxxxxxx

Then one day Josef gets a call from Dave, his security chief at the house. "You better watch Buzzwire's latest."

Josef sighs. "What's she done now?"

"Josef, I'm only concerned for keeping her safe and not true dead. It's part of my job description, but she's going after one of the local drug gangs. It used to be run by Tejada. It went to his son-in-law after St. John took Tejada out. I'm worried. These guys don't mess around. I know she's not on camera, but it won't be hard for them to find out who's doing the investigating."

"Thanks Dave. I'll see if I can reign her in, but you can guess how effective that's going to be." _Damn woman is going to be the death of me yet._

That was three months ago... and her reporting put several of the top men in the organization in jail. Not the guy she really wanted in jail, not Castillo. He was the new head of the operation since his father in law was killed. Beth decides to let things cool off with the drug gangs and went on to other stuff. Her contacts are all scared to talk. She could always come back to these guys later when everything isn't so hot.

Beth does her very best to not think of Mick, her guardian angel, and her friend. She amends that, their friend. She knows that Josef misses Mick too. It is times like this when she misses him the most. She tells herself he would understand. He might not like it, but he would understand. She smiles ruefully to herself. Josef, not so much. He knows he can't stop her, but he gives it his best shot. Sometimes at night she looks up at the stars, tries not to cry and makes a wish that wherever Mick is he is as happy as she is. Despite everything, she loves Josef with all her heart, and she is happy.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Six months later, Beth is putting the finishing touches on furnishing her cabin down by the lake. George's crew managed to get done in less than the six months he expected. She wishes Josef would come home to enjoy the night with her. It is a beautiful full moon. The light of the moon shining off the lake is amazing. Beth hears someone drive up to the little house and she peeks out the window. She sees a big black truck with a trailer behind it. Beth goes out on the porch. She sees Josef get out on the passenger's side and a burly man dressed in ranchers' clothes gets out on the driver's side. "Josef?"

The man smiles at her and then looks back at Josef.

"Beth, this is Mark Hudson. He manages a ranch I own down in New Mexico."

"Ma'am" he says and tips his hat to her.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Hudson. But I don't understand."

Mr. Hudson turns to Josef, "You didn't tell her?"

Josef smiles. "No, it's too much fun to watch her face when I surprise her."

Beth smiles at Josef a little leery. "Josef, what did you do now?"

Josef turns to Mr. Hudson. "Show her Mark."

Mark goes to the back of the trailer and drops the tailgate. He gets in and backs out the most beautiful midnight black horse Beth has ever seen.

Beth looks at Josef wonderingly. "For me?" Is all that she can say.

Softly he says, "Yes, baby, for you."

"But I thought…. I mean..."

Josef realizes her confusion. "Mark knows what we are, and the horse are trained to not be frightened of vamps. A lot of horses will instinctively freak out around a vampire, even one that isn't showing any signs. They are smart, they can feel the predator, but Mark trains a few horses every year that are vamp friendly."

Beth jumps down off the porch and runs to Josef. "Oh, thank you. This is wonderful. I love to ride. How did you know?"

"I remembered a picture I saw of you when you were a teenager. You were riding a horse. I was betting it was something you'd like to do again."

Beth knows which picture he is talking about. She had seen it in Mick's file from when he was looking after her.

She gives Josef a big hug. "But what are we going to keep him?" Beth looks at Mark "him?"

"Yes, ma'am, him and his given name is long and written on his papers, but we've always called him Smokey."

Beth turns to Josef. "I like that. Can we keep him here?"

Josef smiles. "Yes, George will take care of him for the next couple days. I have a crew coming in tomorrow and they are going to put up a corral and a small pole barn over there for him. I've also got some hay and feed trucked in. Mark can help you pick out a saddle any another tack you need.

Beth laughs and then gives him a small smile. "hhhmmm a barn with hay…."

Josef shakes his head at her. "You're incorrigible."

Beth laughs. "Hey, that's my line."

Mark leaves with the horse with a promise to be back in a couple days. He has an agreement with a local vet. They will help him with the boarding until accommodations for the horse are ready.

Beth sits down on the top step of the porch, and Josef comes over and sits next to her. He puts his arm around her, and they look out over the lake under the full moon. Josef turns to kiss Beth, and as he turns his head, he sees a glint in the trees from across the lake. Instinctively he grabs Beth and rolls across the porch stopping in the shadows with his body covering hers. Then they hear the shot as the bullet crashes through the glass of the front door.

Josef silently slides off the side of the porch taking Beth with him. They skirt the side of the house and come to rest behind the house. Josef flips open his phone and growls into the phone. "Beth and I are down at the cabin. Someone shot at us from the other side of the lake. Get your ass over there now and see what you can find."

Josef turns to Beth "/we walk back and stay in the shadows of the woods. Without checking the vehicles, I don't even want to get in one."

Beth grabs Josef. "How…. how did you know?"

Josef smiles in the dark at her. "Glint of the scope caught my eye when I went to kiss you. Good thing there is a full moon."

Beth shakes her head. "Full moon nothing, good thing you like to kiss me."

Josef takes her hand and leads her into the darkness and back to the house.

**xxxxxxxx**

**C****omments are always welcome.**


	7. Chapter 7

**As much as I wish it. Moonlight doesn't belong to me in any way shape or form. I like to come play in their sandbox.**

**xxxxxxx**

Mick gets out of the bed and stares down at the sleeping brunet. He's in a hotel room in New York trying to not think about what he gave up without a fight. He tries to remember this one's name, Vicky/Debbie. He shakes his head at the change in him in the last six months, back to square one. One more 'Not Beth' he thinks.

When he'd relocated to New York it didn't take long for the local female vamp population to find out he was single. He wasn't having any trouble finding company. He'd gone through redheads and brunettes like a starving man in an all-you-can-eat buffet. Hell, he'd even tried a couple with pink hair and one with purple locks. Curiously enough, no blonds, not a one. Not so curious, though, if you know his history with one blond. A blond might make him face his stupidity, and do something about it, and he isn't ready for that.

Mick snorts. Josef would be so proud. Mick is back on the tap again. Why is it the only time he ever drinks direct is when he doesn't give a shit about his life?

Between the freshies and the vamps in the local clubs he is never alone. He hoped at first that it would make it easier, but it hasn't. He misses her so much. Hell, he misses them both. Josef is his best friend, and they have been through a lot in the last fifty years. Mick needs to find a way to get past this so he can go home and not have his heart torn apart. Living in the same city without Beth by his side and knowing she's living with his best friend is a tough choice.

Debbie/Vicky rolls over and reaches for him in the bed and sits up when she finds him gone. "Hey, come back to bed." She smiles at him. "I'll make it worth your while." He stands there for a minute trying to decide what he's going to do about her when his phone rings. He tries to ignore it, but a minute after it stops it starts right back up and he decides he better look to see who's calling. He looks down; it is Josef. "Shit." He knows Josef wouldn't call unless it was an emergency. He flips the phone open and answers. "Can I call you back in ten?"

"Yes." And the phone goes dead.

Mick looks at the girl. "Look I don't mean to be rude, but I need you out of here. That call was from someone who would only call if it were an emergency. I have a hunch I'm going to be packing and on the next flight out. The girl looks at him and rolls her eyes. "Yea, sure. Whatever." Mick tosses her cab fare. She gets dressed and reluctantly leaves.

Mick stares down at the phone. What is he going to do? He knows he will call back to make sure that Beth is okay but going back will be tough. He doesn't know if he can do it and not want her back, and that would cost him his friendship with Josef. Finally, he sighs and punches up Josef's number.

"What's happened?"

Josef pauses, again wondering; if this is a good idea, but not knowing what else to do. "Somebody took a shot at Beth and I."

Mick thinks about it for a minute. "I've seen her stuff on Buzzwire. She may not be doing the video, but it's unmistakable Beth. Could you tell if they were shooting at you or her?"

"No idea. I wish I knew. Look Mick, you don't have to come back. I wondered if you have any suggestions who I can call locally to investigate. Somebody that would do a thorough job. My security guys aren't up to this kind of investigation, and for obvious reasons I can't go to the cops." _You're supposed to be here to do this._

Mick knows he's going back. If it means learning to live with life without her in LA, then so be it. He misses them both too much to keep running. Random redheads and brunettes aren't cutting it. "Josef, do you have a plane stationed in New York still?"

"Yes."

"Call and tell them they've got a passenger. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Mick, are you sure?"

"Yea, Josef, it'll be ok. I miss you both too much to keep this up. It's time to come home."

Josef smiles. "Good. It hasn't been the same since you left."

Josef hangs up and turns to see Beth standing in the doorway. "Mick's coming back to LA. I'm going to call the flight crew in New York, and they are going to fly him back."

Beth smiles. "It will be nice to have him back here." Beth can sense Josef's hesitation mixed with his happiness at his friends return. Beth walks across the room and puts her arms around Josef. "Don't worry about anything. I can't imagine how I could be happier. I'm not going anywhere."

Josef smiles at her. "You know me so well." He cups her face in his hands and kisses her.

She smiles at him "Because I love you so much."

xxxxxxxxxxx

Mick gets off the plane and starts to walk through the terminal. He stops and looks around. He smells vampires. He turns around and there are Beth and Josef waiting for him. Mick walks up to them and a smiling Beth gives him a small hug and Josef shakes his hand. "We thought you might like a ride home."

Mick smiles at them, "That sounds like a great idea. I can't believe you guys came to meet me. Josef, you hate this place."

"Yes, and that's why my car is right out this door. No waiting."

They go out to the waiting limo and Mick laughs. "Josef, the limo?"

Josef scowls at Beth. "It gets so little use these days I might as well lay my driver off. Beth won't ride in it unless it's a special event." Beth interrupts. "Like a good friend's homecoming." Josef continues. "The poor thing sits and sits."

Beth laughs. "Josef there are some things you are not going to be able to change about me. I will not ride in the limo to go shopping. It's dumb."

"She won't even let me buy her a decent car."

"I did so. You bought me what I wanted. Not some luxury car that is going to be a pain to park."

Mick laughed. "Let me guess. She made you buy her a Prius or one of the other hybrids."

Beth smiles and nods at him.

They can hear Josef grumbling about Beth's blue-collar upbringing and practicality.

Beth laughs at him. "And don't you forget it. You may want to play lord of the manner and impress the peasants, but this isn't old Europe. If you want to do that, get back on the boat."

Josef growls at her playfully. "Woman, you are screwing up my image and my reputation."

Mick watches them and smiles. This is a very happy Beth, and a Josef that Mick doesn't think he's ever seen. So relaxed and happy, even with the trouble he called about. Mick relaxes; he tells himself that it might not be so tough living here again. They are so happy; how can he not be happy for them? He's brought out of his thoughts hearing his name. He looks at Josef. "Hope you don't mind, but I got your cleaning lady in. We went over to turn on your freezer and load your fridge; that is unless you're back on tap."

Mick looks at Josef and realizes Josef knows he is. He's not sure how Josef knows, but he does. Mick shrugs. "As a matter of fact."

Josef smiles. "I thought so. You look better than you have in a long time. Well, you've got spare in the fridge if you need it. If it's ok, we'll drop you off at the apartment. You can come to the office tomorrow and we'll get down to this business and see if we can figure out what's going on. I imagine the jet lag is going to hit pretty soon."

Mick nods. "That sounds good, except I'd rather come out to the house if that's where it happened. It would help if I could see what you're talking about, talk to the security people."

Josef nods. "That's fine. See you sometime after twilight."

Mick walks around his apartment. It's nice to be back. He missed his vinyl collection and his stereo system. He sent all Beth's stuff back to her before he left, but he'd kept a couple pictures from when they were together. He still has all the ones from when she was human. He scoops them all up and puts them in back in their file and puts them back in the filing cabinet, except one. He takes one framed picture of her and puts it face down on his desk in his office. He tells himself it is time to move on. At least being gone the last six months, her smell has worn off the apartment.

Mick sits down and starts to make a few phone calls. No point in waiting. First, he calls Victoria, "Hey, it's Mick."

"St. John. Are you back in town for good?"

"Yea, I think so. Look, you have as many contacts as I do. Can you discreetly ask around and see if you can find out if anyone took a hit out on Josef or Beth?"

He hears her whistle. "Someone tried to kill Josef?"

"Well, I haven't had a chance to go over the details with him yet. It sounds like they were together, so it could have been either of them. See if you can find out anything, would you?"

"No problem. I see if anyone knows anything."

Mick starts calling some of his old contacts to see if anyone's heard anything. The jet lag finally starts to set in, and he heads upstairs to his freezer. He smiles when he sees it, much better than an ice bath in a hotel.

xxxxxxxx

Mick drives out to Josef's the next evening and sees all the new construction at the house. The window he threw Denton through has finally been replaced. Also, he notices a new room added. Mick smiles. The house is huge, but Josef added another room, had to be for Beth. Mick gets out, goes up and knocks. Before he'd left town, he wouldn't have bothered. Now it seems like something he should do until everybody is settled. Robert answers the door and shakes Mick's hand. "Nice to see you again. Josef is in his study and Beth is in her office which is the new room you probably noticed when you drove up."

Mick wanders down the hallway and peeks into Beth's office. She's sitting at a beautiful antique desk, taking notes and clicking away at her laptop. She looks up. "Hey, how do you like my office?"

Mick looks around. It's very Beth in its decoration, but there are subtle things like the desk that are Josef's touches, old and new. "It's very nice. Josef had it added on for you?"

"Yea, I sort hit the roof when he closed out my apartment, so he surprised me with the plans for this and the cabin."

Mick arched an eyebrow at her. "Oh, you'll see it in a bit. That's where we were shot at. Josef made me promise not to go back until we know what's going on." Mick hears the sadness in her voice and looks up at her. She turns back to him and smiles. "You know, it's nice to have you back home. We missed you. Come on, let's go get Josef."

They walk down the hall and Josef is at his desk talking on the phone. Beth walks over and sits on the couch and Mick sits in the chair facing Josef. Josef ends his call and looks up at Mick. "So, how do you like the addition?"

"It looks nice. Did George do the work on this as well?"

"Of course. Might as well get the original architect, especially since he's part of the clan."

Josef sighs. "Well, let's get this over with."

The three of them get up and start for the door. Josef stops and looks at Beth. "Please."

"Damn it, Josef. No. That's my place down there. You let me pick out the floor plans, I picked out the furnishings, and my horse is going to have a corral down there. I will not let you or them drive me away from the best gift anybody's ever given me."

Josef shakes his head at her and turns to Mick. "How do you argue with that?"

Josef turns back to Beth. "If either of us tells you to get down or get out of sight or anything you do it, ok?"

Beth nods. "Yes, that's fine. Don't tell me I can't go down there with you. I agreed to stay away on my own, for now, but I'm not going to stay here while you go down."

Mick thinks this is like all the 'stay in the car' moments he had with her. He smiles. Some things never change.

They get in the Jeep and drive down. Josef parks behind the cabin and they get out. Mick looks the area over. They walk to the front of the cabin where Mick sees the shattered door. He turns to Josef. "Tell me what time it was and what happened."

"It was around midnight. There was a full moon. Mark Hudson was here to show Beth the horse I bought her. He left and we were sitting on the steps there. I turned to Beth and as I turned, I caught a glimpse of light in the trees across the lake. All I could think of was a night scope. I grabbed Beth and we rolled over to the shadows and then a bullet came crashing through the door. We went down the side of the porch and I called the security guys and we stayed in the shadows as we walked home."

Mick looks at the ruined door and thinks how lucky they were. Even a vamp can be killed if you get them dead center between the eyes. He's glad it didn't get tested out here. "Ok, let's go back up. You can fill me in on the rest back at the house."

Beth turns to them. "Wait. Can I go into the house for a minute?"

Mick shrugs. "I don't see why not. Josef?"

"Beth, I'll get them. You stay out here." He knows exactly what she wants. Josef uses his speed to zip in and out. He hands Beth the pictures he took off her desk. "Here you go babe." He hands her the pictures.

"Thank you. Ok, I'm ready."

They head to the Jeep. Mick sees that the pictures when she lays them on the seat next to her. One is of her and Josef taken not long ago, and one was of the three of them before she was turned. Mick's gets a lump in his throat when he remembers back to that time but pushes the feelings away.

xxxxxxxx

Josef calls Al Davis, the head of his security. He has him meet them at the house so Mick can talk to him about the other side of the lake.

Once everyone is settled in Josef's study; Mick turns to Al, "Ok, now I need you to tell me exactly what happened."

Al takes a deep breath. "I got a call from Josef at 12:15 and he said that someone had shot at him and Ms. Turner, from the other side of the lake. He told me to get over there. One of the men that works for me was a crime scene investigator for the LAPD until he was turned. I took him with me, and a few others and we high tailed it over there."

Mick interrupts. "What's the road like in and out of there and does it run all the way around the lake?"

"I brought a map." Al spreads the map out on Josef's desk. He points out the road going around the lake. "We came in here. Truthfully there are any of number of places they could have gone out and we would have never seen them."

He traces the routes with his finger to show Mick.

"When we got in there we could see where there had been something parked that had big tire tread. We searched the entire area, no cigarette buttes, scraps of paper, nothing. I smelled a human, but no vamps."

Al folds the map back up and sits down. Josef and Mick stare across at each other. Mick breaks the silence. "You can take off. If I think of anything else, I'll get in touch with Josef." Al nods and leaves.

Mick and Josef both get up and start to pace. Beth rolls her eyes and snickers at them. Mick looks at them. "There hasn't been anything else happen that you can remember that seemed odd at the time. Something that now seems like it might have been something else. No other incidents?"

Josef snorts. "Nothing I can think of."

Mick looks at Beth and narrows his eyes at her. She's looking at something very interesting on her pant leg. Mick looks at Josef who now has the same look on his face. Josef walks around his desk and crouches next to Beth's chair. He reaches out and takes her hand. "Ok, what is it?"

She looks at him. "You know, it didn't seem like much at the time...um… you won't get mad?"

"Beth" Josef gently growls at her. "I will try and hold my temper, but you know how I get with your security."

Beth takes a deep breath. "You know when they were adding the room on to the house?"

Josef nods.

"Well, there was that tall stack of bricks that fell."

"Yes?"

"Well, I was right next to it, and it almost fell on me. One of the laborers saw what was happening and pushed me out of the way."

Josef closes his eyes and reigns in his temper. "And I'm hearing about this only now because?"

"Josef, I thought it was an accident, I still do, and I didn't belong where I was. I wanted to see what they were doing. The foreman was terrified you would hold him responsible, and he would lose his job. He has a family to feed. So, I told him it was fine, and I wouldn't say anything."

Josef hangs his head for a minute and then looks at her again. "Anything else?"

"Uh, a couple of weeks ago my breaks failed. I thought it was a malfunction. I had the car towed to the garage, where Jack sent it before and had it fixed. You were in New York for a couple of days, and when you got back it didn't seem all that important."

Josef is slowly shaking his head. "There's more isn't there?"

Beth smiles at him sheepishly. "One more little thing. Last week I was run off the road. I thought it was a drunk."

Josef stands up and turns to Mick who can almost see the emotions coming off Josef. "Ah, Mick do you think you could give us a minute?"

"Sure, but I need details before I leave."

"Not a problem. Go see the girls and I'll come get you in a few minutes."

Mick leaves the two of them and heads off to see the girls.

Josef goes back to Beth and takes her hand and pulls her up into a hug and kisses her. He can feel her tears running down her face and mixing with the kiss. He leans back and wipes the tears away. "It's ok. I'm not mad. I'm very scared. Something could happen to you, and I couldn't prevent it because you aren't telling me about stuff like this."

Beth nods.

"I know you don't think much about the money and power, but there are a lot of people out there who would hurt you to get to me. In addition, you tend to piss off a lot of very bad people on your own. I haven't said anything about the Buzzwire stuff, but for all this to work you have let me help keep you safe. Can you do that?"

Beth nods. "Josef, I'm sorry. I thought they were random stuff."

"Beth, in the position we have both put ourselves in, we can't take any chances that it's random. I would rather have it checked out and find out it's random than find out later it was something coming at us."

Beth sighs, "Alright. Josef, I love you."

He hugs her tight again. "I love you too." Josef kisses the end of her nose.

Mick heads down to the girl's wing of the house. Emily sees him first. "Hey, Mick." She jumps up and comes over and gives him a hug, "Nice to see you again." Emily smiles at him shyly, "You're back on tap, aren't you?"

Mick smiles and shakes his head. "What, am I wearing a sign?"

"Naw, but it shows. You look better, healthy for a vamp. You want something to eat?"

"Sure. In a minute, tell me how you are."

Emily smiles. "Same as always." She waves her arm around the room. "How does it get much better than this? You know Josef; he always takes great care of us. I was sort of worried when Beth moved in, but she's nice. We all like her a lot." She catches a sad smile on Mick's face before he can push it down. Emily puts her hand on Mick's arm. "If it's any consolation, they are both happy. I've never seen Josef like this, and Beth is one of the nicest vamps I've ever known."

Emily watches as the sadness seems to magically disappear. Mick takes her hand and walks over to the couch with her. She holds out her arm to him, and he gently sinks his fangs into the vein she presents to him.

Emily watches Mick and one small tear runs down her cheek. She thinks she'd rather feel Denton's kind of pain than the hurt and sadness, the sense of loss Mick is carrying around. She wonders if he even realizes it. She sees Josef come in, and she smiles. Josef cocks his head at her and as practiced as she thinks she is, he notices that something is off. Mick lets her go and smiles at her. She looks at the smile and wonders at how skilled he is at not letting on how he feels. You would never know from the look on his face how bad he's hurting inside. Emily decides she isn't going to be the one to give him away. She follows suit and smiles at Josef to hide Mick's pain.

Josef watches Emily before she realizes he's there. He can tell from the look on her face that something not quite right. Once she sees him it's gone, but he can still tell. He'll have to think about whether to ask her about it later.

Josef turns to Mick. "You ready or was Em a warmup?"

Mick looks at Josef ruefully. "You're loving this aren't you?"

"Hey, come on, it's good for you. Beth's back in her office trying to remember everything she can about each incident."

"Josef, I hope you made her understand, between the two of you, you could piss off most of the bad elements in the community. Not much in life is random."

Josef smiles. "You pretty much took the words out of my mouth."

**Xxxxxxxx**

**Comments are always welcome. **


	8. Chapter 8

**As much as I wish it. Moonlight doesn't belong to me in any way shape or form. I like to come play in their sandbox.**

xxxxxx

Mick sits in his office making notes on all the things he's learned, from Beth about her random accidents. He was also going back over her investigation on Tejada's old gang from a few months ago.

His phone rings. He looks down and it's Victoria. "Hey"

"St. John. I couldn't find anyone who knew anything about a contract on Josef or Blondie."

Mick squints. "You sure?"

She snorts. "You know how these things are, I can't get absolute confirmation. Maybe someone is threatening Josef and Blondie to get you back to LA so they can hit you?"

Mick hears something in her voice that he can't identify. "Victoria what's the deal with you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on, what's the deal with you and Beth? You act like she's still human. I can hear the contempt in your voice. Did you two have a run in?"

She sighs. "No, look it's none of my business… I just, Shit, you leave town and she's with Josef? I don't like woman who make messes of everything around them."

Softly he says, "It wasn't her fault. I blew it, and practically handed her to Josef. He's her sire; you know what that's like. Even if he wasn't already in love with her, he wasn't going to let me mess her head up anymore. Believe me she's the last one at fault in this. You have no idea how I screwed up."

"If you say so, but I know how much she meant to you. Look, I'm glad you're back. Hey, maybe one of these nights we can go have a drink."

Mick smiles. "Yea, but first I have to find out what's going on. You may not want to sit next to me until I do."

She laughs "Oh, I don't know. Might make for an interesting night." She hangs up.

Next Mick calls Josef. "Hey, I need George's number. I need to find out everyone who was on that crew and see how closely he does background on his laborers and the like. I'm also going to have to talk to that foreman that Beth spoke to about the accident."

Josef gives Mick the number. "Anything interesting crop up yet?"

Mick sighs. "Not much but I'll let you know when I have more information" They hang up.

Xxxxxx

Mick calls George. "George, it's Mick."

"Hey, Mick. You back in LA?"

"Yea, Look George there has been some trouble at Josef's, and I'm looking into it."

"I hope everyone is ok."

"Yea, but I need to get to the bottom of it before someone gets hurt. I was wondering how closely you do background on your crew."

"Real close on the foreman and anybody who is qualified to do more than swing a hammer. Mostly though, I check on if they are reliable and don't cut corners, not so much on their personal lives. I don't want my houses and buildings falling. I don't care what they do on their off time and as for the laborers not at all. A lot of guys in this business are young and raising a lot of hell. I don't need to know about it if they show up and do their job. Mick if anyone on my crew had anything to do with something bad at Josef's could you give me a heads up before you tell Josef? If he's going to be pissed at me, I need to know about it and try and gauge how bad the blowback is going to be. Does this have to do in anyway with Beth?"

"It could, why?"

"Shit. If it has to do with her, you really need to give me a heads up. Josef will be out for blood."

"No problem George. Can you give me the name of the guy who was foreman on that job at Josef's?"

"Sure Mick. Hold on while I look it up. I've got him on a job tonight. I'll put the fear of God into him if you want."

"No, tell him to expect me and to co-operate."

George gives him the information and they hang up.

Mick looks down at his watch. The garage Beth took her car to opens in a few minutes. He heads out to see what the garage owner has to say. Luckily, this is a vamp owned garage that does routine maintenance on Beth's car. Mick called him last night and told him he is working for Josef. As soon as he mentioned Josef, the man was more than willing to do whatever he could.

Mick walks in and introduces himself. The owner, Owen Jones is more than a little nervous. That is also a reaction to using Josef's name. "I need to ask you a couple of questions about a car you worked on a couple of weeks ago."

Owen squints trying to think back. "I don't remember us getting one of Mr. Kostan's cars. Usually if Jack is going to send one over, we set it up through him."

"Well, this one isn't registered to Mr. Kostan. It's registered to his girlfriend." The words stick in Mick's throat, but only for a second. "She's brought it in before, for regular maintenance. Her name is Beth Turner. She's a blond vamp. Drives a Prius."

The man's eyes are big. "There isn't something wrong with the car that we fixed is there? She didn't have a wreck or anything?"

"No, nothing like that. I need to know if the car was tampered with before she got it to you."

The man visibly relaxes. "Do you have the license number? I can look it up on my computer."

Mick gives him the number. License number is MYSTRY.

"Here it is." He prints out a work order. "She said her brakes failed."

"Any chance I can talk to the guy who worked on it?"

"Sure. He's right over here."

They walk across the garage to a human who leaning over a restored '65 Impala. "Cal, I need you to talk to this man for a minute. He's investigating a car that may have been tampered with before we got it."

Mick shakes the man's hand and introduces himself. "A woman brought in a new Prius a couple of weeks ago. Prius is dark blue the woman is a pretty blond."

The man thinks about it for a minute. "Oh, yea, the Buzzwire lady. I remember when she was doing the newscasts. Man, she's hot."

The owner gives him a shot with his elbow and Mick smiles. Cal looks at the owner funny, shrugs and continues. "What did you want to know?"

"Was there any chance the breaks were tampered with?" Mick asks.

"I suppose it's always a possibility, but this didn't look like anything out of the ordinary. It wasn't an actual mechanical problem like you'd find on say this Chevy. You know, the new ones are computerized to the max. Every once and a while one of the sending units is bad and goes out and you get a failure. I suspected that the light had been on, warning her of a problem for a while and she ignored it. I replaced the unit and it was as good as new. Hardly took any time at all."

Mick nods at him. "Thanks. That's what I needed to know. You've been a big help."

Owen follows Mick to the door. "You'll tell Mr. Kostan that we were helpful? I'd hate to lose his business. We'd do anything for him and, to tell you the truth, it would kill me to lose him as a customer. He has so many cars in such an interesting variety. It's nice to work on cars someone obviously appreciates."

"No problem. I'll make sure he knows you were very helpful."

Mick goes home to his freezer and thinks that whoever is doing this doesn't have a very solid organization. He's been back twenty-four hours and there have been no attempts on him, if he's the target as Victoria suggested.

xxxxxxxx

Josef gets up and sees that Beth is still asleep. He gets dressed and goes down to see Emily. He needs to know how bad Mick is. He can read Mick, but he also knows how good Mick is at hiding how he is feeling. It's a holdover from when he was married to Coraline. Josef sees Emily over by the pool sitting in the late afternoon sun. Josef approaches her. "Emily?"

She gives him her brightest smile. He can feel her heart rate pickup. _She knows what I'm here about and is nervous_. He doesn't like doing this, but he needs to know. He feels like he's putting her in a bad position and hates it. "Hi, Josef. Little early. Sorry, let me get up."

Josef puts his hand on her arm to stop her and sits down next to her. "Emily, I need to know how bad he's hurting. I know you could feel it yesterday when Mick was feeding. Is he really bad?"

Emily starts to silently cry. _Shit,_ this is not good. She's still feeling the residual effects from yesterday. "Josef, it's not like I don't want to help you. You've always been good to me. I think it's not my place, you know, I mean, he trusted me."

"I know, Em, but I can't help him if I don't know how bad he is, and you saw yesterday how good he is at covering. Despite everything he is always going to be my friend."

Emily sighs. "He's so good at pretending nothing is wrong. I don't think he even realizes it. He's been pushing down his feelings for so long. I mean the sadness is heartbreaking. I can still feel it today."

Josef nods. "Just as I thought. Do me a favor. If Beth wants to feed from you today, tell her that you're a little under the weather. I don't want her getting any echoes from Mick."

Emily nods and thinks that won't be a lie.

Josef continues. "Please don't mention Mick to her. She doesn't need to feel bad too. Mick and I are enough."

Emily nods and goes back to her sunbathing. Josef goes over to one of the other girls and has breakfast.

Xxxxxxx

Beth wanders into Josef's study. She walks over and gives him a kiss. "Did you know Emily isn't feeling well?"

"Yes, probably just a twenty-four-hour bug. I'm sure she'll be fine. Are you going somewhere?"

"Yea, I'm going into give a story I have to Mo and do some stuff at the office."

Josef braces himself. "Please take Al or one of his guys with you. Let them drive. Better yet, email Mo the story."

"No!" is all she says and walks out of the room.

Josef sighs and waits for her return.

Beth goes to grab her keys out of her purse, and they are gone. He took her keys. She smiles and gives a small laugh. She goes to her desk and grabs the second pair she had made after she locked herself out. He doesn't know about those. She grabs them and heads to the car.

Josef hears the car and sits patiently for her return. She should know by now that he tries to cover all his bases. He was afraid she had a second set, so he had Jack disable her car and lock up all the keys to the rest of the cars.

Beth stalks back into the room, and he can tell she would like to stake him. "Josef, you tell Jack to fix whatever you had him do to my car."

He shakes his head. "No."

She starts to pick up random things from around the room and starts throwing them at him. She's got a hell of an arm. She picks up one of his favorite crystal decanters. "Not the crystal!" He yells at her.

She stops and looks at it. Narrows her eyes at him and throws it straight at his head. "Fix my car." She says as he plucks the decanter out of the air as it sails close to his head.

He walks across the room ducking flying objects and grabs both her wrists. "Damn it, Beth. Stop it."

"No. When I was human, I had Mick dogging my tracks so I would stay safe. Hell, he did it for over twenty years. Now I'm a vampire, who I might add, he taught to defend herself, and I still can't catch a break with you guys. What the hell gives you the right to keep trying to tell me what I can do? I can take care of myself."

Josef narrows his eyes at her. "You know what gives me the right? You want to know? Because damn it, I love you and it would kill me if something happened to you. Yesterday you said you would help me keep you safe."

"I did not agree to another babysitter. I said I would tell you when stuff happened. Josef, I love you too, but you have to let me breathe."

Josef's phone rings. He looks down and sees its Mick. "Let me talk to Mick. Maybe he has some good news."

Beth turns to stalk out of the room. She hears Josef yell at her that he gave Jack the rest of the day off so she can't harass him, and to behave herself until he gets off the phone. He swiped the phone open, so Mick heard that. "Mick?"

Mick smiles, "Trouble Josef?"

Josef snarls at him. "That woman is going to drive me crazy. We had a disagreement about her taking along Al or one of the guys while she was out. She wasn't happy to say the least."

Josef hears Mick snickering through the phone and, despite himself, smiles. "You know that crystal decanter I'm so fond of? She threw the damn thing at me. I caught it, but she's mad."

"Josef you have to remember she's bound to be a little more volatile for a couple of years at least."

"I know. Next time I know it's coming; we're going at it in the yard. It might at least save on the interior. She's got a hell of an arm. So, what's up?"

"I called to ask if she could meet me. Better yet, how about if I come get her so she can show me exactly where she was run off the road. It would be helpful because I might be able to tell from tire tracks whether they were waiting for her."

"Yes, please. She wants to go to Buzzwire. Could you drop her off there and make some excuse to come back and get her after she's done? She should be fine there, and you could bring her back."

Mick smiles. "Sure, if she'll let me. Hopefully she won't be throwing things at me too."

"Thanks. Let me ask her, and I'll call you back."

Josef wanders into Beth's office. He closes the door. If round two is about to start, the whole house doesn't have to hear it.

She's sitting in her chair staring at the ceiling. "It's not going to get any better is it?"

For a minute, Josef thinks that she's talking about life in general and that she's ready to start packing.

Beth senses his feelings and looks up. She smiles at him. "You idiot, I'm not talking about us. I'm talking about having people looking over my shoulder. It's going to be this way as long as I work at Buzzwire and as long as you run this community." She senses his relief and wants to smack him again. He's been this way ever since Mick got back.

He walks over and pulls her into his arms. "Yes, I'm afraid it is. It's always going to be this way. It will get better, and then get worse, but it's always going to be that way to some degree. If we are going to manage, you may as well resign yourself to some degree of protection. In the easy times, it won't be so much, but when it's like this it has to be or I'm going to go crazy."

Somewhat sullenly she tells him. "You never have a bodyguard."

He looks at her like he can't believe she's making the comparison. "I'm also four hundred years old. With age comes a certain degree of power that you don't possess and won't for a long time. Baby, you're not even a year old. This isn't about you having a bodyguard isn't?"

"I think you're being silly. I can't imagine that anyone is even going to bother coming after me."

Josef sighs, "Mick and I had a conversation about Lola a while back. He asked me what there was in my life that Lola would go after that was as important to me as you were to him. I told him nothing because if you have people that mean so much to you, eventually they are used against you." Josef turns her face to look at him. "Believe me when I tell you, that it's the truth." He kisses her. "Now I have something that means that much to me. Before you, I insulated myself for a reason. I didn't want to ever feel that way. I was afraid that when they try come after me again, and they will, that something terrible would happen. Do you think that if you had been living with me when Lola came after us that she would have hesitated for one minute to come after you herself? She thought since you were human and at Mick's alone you would be easy to kill. She would not have made that mistake if you were here with me and all my extra security."

Beth looks at him wearily. "Okay, I get it, but here's the deal. When things are calm and quiet like they were until the other day, I do what I want without any extra hand holding."

Josef starts to interrupt, and she stops him. "And in exchange, if anything weird or out of the ordinary happens I'll tell you. You can tell Mick and the two of you can fret until we find out it's nothing and then I go back to no hand holding?"

Josef smiles at her. "I can live with that, but I want a little more specific. When it's bad like it is now, you do what Mick and I tell you, and that means a bodyguard or sometimes staying home." He can feel the frustration coming off her.

Beth sighs. "You know, I fell in love with the two of the most impossible vampires in the world." She shakes her head. "Alright, it's a deal, but I don't have to like it and if I get a little grumpy than you'll have to excuse me." She smiles. "Sorry about the crystal. I know that's one of your favorite decanters."

"Not a problem. I caught it." He laughs. "Your aim was off. You missed my head."

Beth leans into him and kisses him hard and Josef readily responds. He runs his hands up and down her body. She smiles at him. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Me? Nothing, kissing my lady."

She smiles at him and he knows it's ok again. "Josef, you came in here for a reason besides trying to get me to let you make love to me on my desk."

He smiles at her mischievously. "One of these days."

She laughs at him and kisses him. "I'm sure you're right."

Josef nudges her, "Come on, back to the topic at hand, we still have some things to sort out."

Beth gives him a sour look. "Do we have to? I'm going upstairs to take a shower. Then I'm going to go get Al or one of the security guys, and I do this for you, and go to Buzzwire."

"Wait, Mick called. He is going to pick you up and take you out to the spot where you were run off the road. He wants to check and see if they were waiting for you. He said if you don't throw things at him, he would take you to Buzzwire and pick you up when you're ready to come home. Is that ok?"

Beth rolls her eyes. "Yes, I suppose. When is he coming out to get me?"

"As soon as I call him and let him know you've agreed."

"Well, tell him an hour so I have time to get ready."

Xxxxxxxx

**Comments are always welcome. **


	9. Chapter 9

**As much as I wish it. Moonlight doesn't belong to me in any way shape or form. I like to come play in their sandbox.**

**xxxxxxxxx**

Mick is driving down the Pacific Coast Highway with Beth. "Tell me about the night you got run off the road."

Beth shrugs. "No big deal. I was at work and decided to go home. I was driving down the PHC not far from here and I spotted this car in my rear-view mirror, and it was all over the road. I did my best to get out of the way because it was so erratic, but it still managed to make me drive off on to the shoulder."

Mick interrupts. "Do you always drive the same way back and forth to work?"

"Pretty much. It's so pretty along here that I like to drive this way."

"Was the car distinctive in anyway? Do you remember if it was an older car, or if there were a lot of young kids in it? Anything at all?"

Beth thinks about it and shakes her head. "Nothing much comes to mind. I was too busy trying to stay out of the way. All I remember is it was a red car, older, but how old I don't know. One driver, it didn't look as though anyone else was in the car." Beth looks at him. "This is about where I noticed it in the mirror."

Mick stops and turns the car around. He goes back a few miles and this time he watches the side of the road carefully. He's trying to see if he can see anywhere that there may have been room for a car to pull off and wait for Beth to pass by. He points to a wide spot, "Is that where you pulled off?"

"Yes. I was lucky it was there. There aren't many spots along here."

Mick pulls up and inspects the area. He gets back in the car. "You were right on this one. I think it was just random."

Beth sighs. "One good thing. Please tell Josef."

Mick smiles and nods. "I'm going to drop you off at Buzzwire and then I'm going to go check on a couple of other things, ok?"

"Yea, that's fine."

Mick is driving along and several times he glances at Beth. She gets tired of it. "What?"

Mick laughs. "I was trying to picture you throwing Josef's decanter at his head."

Beth shakes her head and looks at him sheepishly. "Yea, bad behavior seems to sneak up on me now and then. I know he's concerned, but it's irritating. We've found a compromise that I'll live with reluctantly."

Mick smiles at her, "That's good. You two looked so happy the other day. I hoped it was that way most of the time."

"Most all the time we are happy." Beth glances at Mick. "It's now and then when I realize what a disadvantage it is to be living with a guy who is four hundred years older than I am." Beth laughs." Now and then, Josef has control issues."

Mick joins in her laughter. "You think?"

Mick smiles sadly and she hears. "I'm glad he makes you happy. More than I ever could."

Beth shakes her head and hugs herself. "Mick don't. Please, don't. I can't go there. What's done is done. You know how much I love both of you. Let's not go back there. It hurts too much."

Mick shakes his head. It's like she said, what's done is done. No use going back. God, he wishes he could go back. He would accept what he is, he would drink direct forever and never bitch another day in his life. He would do anything if he could have those last few days before she left to do over. There is nothing worse than a life full of regrets.

Mick manages to find a place to pull over and sits staring straight ahead. "I have to say one thing. I know you don't want to hear it, and I know it hurts, but if I don't get it out it's going to eat me up."

They turn and look at each other; tears in her eyes, anguish in his. Beth nods for him to continue.

"I know how I messed up what was probably my only chance at any kind of happiness, and I don't expect anything to change. I know that you and Josef are happy and I'm happy for you but…. if for any reason… I'll always be waiting."

Beth takes a deep breath and nods at him. Mick starts the car and pulls back on to the road. She hopes that his confession has given him some small measure of peace because it's killing her. She's fine, if no one makes her face all her feelings again.

Mick stops in front of the building and watches her walk away. Her head is down, and her shoulders are slumped. He shakes his head. He never does anything but hurt her. He watches her until she enters the building, then he leaves to go talk to the foreman that worked on Josef's house.

xxxxxxxx

Mick pulls up to the construction site and stops at the gate. One of the carpenter's glances at him, and Mick approaches him. "I'm looking for the foreman, a man named Demetri Andropov. The guy points across the yard to a man with a hard hat and a clipboard. Mick thanks him and walks over to have a chat with Mr. Andropov.

Demetri looks up as Mick approaches. "I'm Mick St. John, I came to talk to you about an incident that happened on a job you were foreman of a few months ago."

He shakes his head. "Please don't get me fired. It was an accident. I would never let anyone intentionally hurt someone on my job site."

Mick looks puzzled. "How do you know what I'm talking about?"

Demetri sighs. "Mr. Robins said it was about something that happened at Mr. Kostan's yes?"

Mick nods. "Well, the time at Mr. Kostan's was the only time we've had any kind of accidents when I've been foreman. I have a very good record." Mick notes the pride in the man's voice. "The pretty blond lady was so nice. She was in the wrong place when that stupid crane operator went too far and tapped the stack of bricks. Believe me, I fired the crane operator on the spot. I gave a raise to the guy who saw what was happening and pushed her out of the way."

Mick nods, "Is there any way I can talk to the guy who saved her?"

Demetri shrugs, "Sure." He takes a walkie talkie out of his pocket, turns the dial and speaks into it, then puts it back in his pocket. "He'll be down in a couple minutes. If that's all, I have a lot to do."

Mick nods. "Sure, no problem. I'll wait by the gate. How's that?"

"I'll send him over when he comes down."

Mick stands by the gate and sees this young kid walk over. "Mr. Andropov said that you wanted to talk to me?"

Mick smiles and notices the kid has a heavy accent. "Yes, I wanted to ask you about what happened with the stack of bricks at Mr. Kostan's house a few months ago. I was told you pushed Beth out of the way of the bricks."

The kid shrugs. "I was standing there waiting for the crane operator to finish so we could forklift the bricks into smaller stacks. They aren't supposed to be that high. The lady was standing next to me when I see the crane hit the corner of the stack. I grabbed her and rolled out of the way. Truthfully Mr. I was trying pretty hard to get myself out of the way and she was there, so I grabbed her on the way."

Mick looks at the kid. What's your name?"

The kid looks at him a little suspiciously. "Stan, Stan Adams."

"Well, Stan, the lady you saved is a good friend. I'd like to thank you. She means an awful lot to Mr. Kostan and me, so I want to thank you again." Mick holds out his hand and they shake.

Stan smiles and shrugs. "Like I said, I was getting out of the way and she was there, so I grabbed her on the way."

"Stan, here's my card. I'm a Private Investigator if you ever need help let me know."

He looks at the card. "Sure Mr. St. John, but I doubt you could help me with what I need."

Mick looks at him questioningly. "You never know."

Stan watches Mick for a minute trying to decide if he can trust him. "My name isn't Stan Adams."

Mick smiles. "No?"

"It's Aleksy Kluk. I'm from Poland. I'm in the country on a green card, but it's running out. Things are so slow in this country since the troubles, that processing takes forever. I'm going to be deported before they get my papers sent through. If they send me back, they will send my parents and sisters back as well."

Mick nods and thinks about it for a minute. "I might know someone who can help. I'm not promising anything, but I'll see what I can do."

Aleksy puts his hand out to Mick. "Thanks Mr. St. John, for trying. I need to get back to work. I need to make as much money as I can before I'm sent back."

Mick nods and watches as Aleksy runs back to the job site.

Xxxxxxx

Mo watches Beth sitting at her desk and wonders what is going on with her. She came in looking like she was going to break into tears at any moment. She pulled herself together enough to give Mo a great story. Then goes over and sits at her desk and stares off with tears in her eyes. Mo shakes her head and spots someone in the corner of her eye; she turns to see who it is, and all is clear. The P.I. is back. Mo walks back to her office. This isn't anything she can help with.

Mick walks over to Beth's desk. She sensed him as soon as he came in. She looks up at him with tears in her eyes. Mick looks at her and kicks himself for telling her how he felt. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Beth picks up her stuff and they head for the car. Mick stops, as he thinks back to that gentle kiss, she gave him in this same parking lot a lifetime ago. She looks at him and knows what he is thinking. He shakes his head and starts moving again. They are sitting in the car not moving. Mick turns to Beth. "As soon as I figure this out, I'm leaving town again. I thought I could…I can't…."

Silently Beth starts to cry. "It won't matter. The universe is going to make you come back again and again. Mick please take me home." Softly he hears her "I need Josef." That cuts him like a knife. Beth sees the shadow cross his face. "You have to understand one thing. I love Josef, just like I love you, but Josef is also my sire and when I feel like this, he's the only answer. He says that over time that will get less so, but it's still like that. When I'm in this much pain I have to be with Josef."

Mick nods and thinks that he does understand it rationally, but nothing with Beth is rational for him. He drives them to Josef's. The silence is deafening.

They pull up to the house and Beth bolts to the house to find Josef. Mick sits in the car staring into the night.

Xxxxxxxx

Josef senses her turmoil and goes over to sit on the couch in his study. Beth runs directly into his arms. He hasn't heard her cry like this since Mick left last time. Josef shakes his head. He had hopes that this was going to work. He can feel her anguish and pain.

There is a solution, but Josef isn't sure that Beth and Mick will go for it. He's old enough that he shed society's conventions a long time ago. Mick is very much a product of his time and Beth, well, she's so young that... he doesn't want to make her feel like she needs to do something she's not comfortable to make them all happy.

Josef does a mental shrug and figures he can at least try. If it's not something that she wants, then there is no point in mentioning it to Mick. He hopes her reaction isn't so bad that she ends up thinking less of him for suggesting it.

Xxxxxxxxx

Mick gets out of the car when he sees the off-road vehicle come up the driveway. It's a modified Jeep. He stands in the middle of the driveway with his arms crossed, blocking further access. A young man gets out of the driver's side, Mick guesses he's about twenty-four. The passenger's side opens and a man in his seventies gets out. They cross the driveway to him. The young man has a grim look on his face. "I was wondering if I could speak to Mr. Kostan?"

Mick watches him for a moment and then out of the corner of his eye he realizes the older man is disoriented. He starts to get upset. Mick frowns at him and the young man walks over and guides him over to where they are standing. "I'm sorry, he doesn't track very well anymore, and I can't leave him alone." He asks again if he can speak to Mr. Kostan.

Mick shakes his head. "Mr. Kostan is in the middle of helping a friend and can't be disturbed. I'm Mick St. John; I'm a close friend, maybe I can help you."

"My name is Troy Williams. This is my grandfather, Able." Mick and Troy shake hands. "Mr. St. John, I had no idea what he is still capable of or I wouldn't have left the keys to my jeep where he could get them, never mind my gun."

Mick realizes this is about the shot from across the lake. "Your grandfather is the one that shot across the lake?"

Troy nods. "I hope no one was hurt."

Mick shakes his head." No, everyone is fine."

"I'm his only family, everyone else is gone. I thought I could work and still look after him. He got away from me the other night while I was on shift and took my deer gun and my Jeep. He used to hunt these hills when he was a kid. That's the time he's in now. I didn't even realize what happened until I noticed my gun was moved. I smelled the barrel and realized he'd shot it. I did some investigating and found where he had parked on the other side of the lake. I thought I better come over and see what damage had been done. I'll pay for anything I can. I'm thankful no one was hurt."

Mick smiles. "Don't worry about it. I'll talk to Josef, it's fine. I'm glad you came over to clear it up. It will take a load off of his mind to know it was an accident and not something else. You take your granddad and go. It's fine. I'll square it with Josef."

Troy nods. "Thank you, Mr. St. John. I guess we'll be going then."

Mick watches as Troy gets the old man in the Jeep and they drive away.

Mick could almost laugh. Of all the random crap to bring him back to LA. He thinks Beth is right. The universe will keep bringing him back again and again. The three of them are doomed to go through eternity making each other miserable. God, he hopes not. Mick heads to the house to say good-bye.

xxxxxxx

Josef looks down at her. "Beth, what happened?" She shakes her head no. "Come on baby, you know you can tell me anything." He brushes a lock of hair out of her eyes. "You figured out how much Mick is hurting didn't you?"

Beth nods. "Oh, Josef… it's awful, he's hurting so much." She stops and looks at him.

Josef kisses her nose, "Yes, me too."

Beth shakes her head. "Are we going to be like this forever? I'm so tired of it."

Josef looks at her and takes a deep breath. "I have an idea to run by you that might make it better. You need to promise me that you will be completely honest with me and tell me what you think. If you have any reservations at all about this, you need to say so or else we all end up worse off than we are now. Can you do that?"

Beth nods at him.

"How about if you live with me for another six months, that would be a year all together. Then you move in and live with Mick for a year and then back here with me for a year?"

She sits up and he can tell she's considering it. "You mean alternate every other year with each of you?"

He nods.

"But Josef what about when I feel like this and have to see you?"

"In another six months this overwhelming need you have to be near me when you're upset will be a lot less. Mick will understand if you need to see me because you're upset." He smiles. "Plus, if you're living with Mick, I suspect you won't feel like this so much."

She looks at him suspiciously. "You're not going to change your mind and not want me to come back, are you? You're not trying to get rid of me because I'm such a pain in the ass, are you?"

He smiles and shakes his head. "No, if I thought there was any other way for the three of us to get through this insanity and keep you with me I would. I don't see any other way. Truthfully now, what do you think?"

Beth smiles. "It would be nice, and it would fix a lot of problems, but you said I had to end one relationship before I started another. I'm afraid. This doesn't sound like that and I don't want you two hurting each other."

"That's why it's so important that we all are honest about the whole thing. If Mick can't do this without feeling like he's going to rip my head off when you come back here to live, then it won't work."

"Do you think Mick will go for it?" Beth wrinkles her nose at Josef and smiles. "Sometimes he's a bit stodgy."

Josef sighs. "What he is, is a product of his time and not old enough to have shed it yet. I don't know if he will or not, but I wasn't sure you would. All we can do is ask." Josef smiles at her. "Mick isn't as stodgy as you think, it's different because we love you, but we have err… shared women before."

Josef laughs at her expression. "Wow. You were drinking buddies."

Xxxxxx

Mick looks back and forth between them and he sits down heavily across from them. "You two need to give me a minute to catch up. This is out of left field."

Mick puts his head on the back of the couch and stares at the ceiling. Beth fears he's going to say no.

Mick thinks about continuing the way they have and how awful it's been. This sure as hell can't be any worse. It would give him something to look forward to. He'd have six months to see about enlarging the apartment. He'd need to get either a bigger freezer for the two of them or one of her own. He stops with a start, realizing he's already made his decision.

He looks up at them and smiles. "Yea, that works for me. It's got to be better than the mess we have now." He looks at Beth and he says, "It would be nice to have something to look forward to again."

Beth stands up and looks at them. "Ok, so we've all got this straight and there will be no fighting about this later? No territorial issues or jealousy bullshit. When it's time for me to move, no problems right? Mick?"

He nods and smiles at her. "Yes, I know, you both think I'm the biggest concern but believe me I can do this if it means not going back where we were. I promised myself if I got this chance again, I wouldn't mess it up."

Beth laughs as she sits down next to Josef. "What's so funny?"

Beth shakes her head and smiles. "You two have effectively made it so no female vamp in the state is ever going to speak to me again." She looks at them both. "How did I ever get so lucky fall in love with you two?"

Xxxxxxxx

Josef stares off into the distance. He smiles as he realizes life has fallen into place rather nicely for once. The phone rings. He looks down and sighs. "Vanessa?"

"It's time. I want the three of you in New York."

Josef knows this is going to take some footwork to get her to hold off. He loves her, but she likes to meddle and right now that's the last thing they need. "No." He continues before she can interrupt. "Vanessa we are still working things out."

"You turned her what, seven months ago? Surely she's on her feet by now."

"It's not that. Things haven't worked out the way I thought. She's been living with me the last six months."

Vanessa shakes her head. She knew this was going to end up a mess. "Meaning?"

"Meaning we are working our way though things. Until it's more settled, I can't drag them off to New York and I can't have you meddling."

She growls silently into the phone. "Your house is big enough. Why don't you all move in there?'

"Vanessa. Stop. These are my friends; my people and you will stay the hell out of it. When I'm ready, when they're ready I'll bring them to New York to meet you but not before."

She hears the resolution in his voice and knows he's not going to budge. She could go to L.A., but she wants her first meeting with Beth and Mick to be cordial and not tense because Josef is mad at her. "Fine but get it together."

xxxxxxxxxx

Josef shakes his head in wonderment when he thinks of the ways that Mick and Beth have changed his life. He got off the phone with a contact at the State Department. The kid from Poland is in, along with his parents and sisters. They will reprioritize his file and get him papers to stay before he's deported. Josef always rewards people who help him, but he wishes there was more he could do for this kid. Josef will contact George about seeing if he can find out if the kid and his family need anything else. He saved Beth's life. Even she wouldn't have survived that stack falling on her and if she had… the pain… he hates to think about it.

Mick is checking on the Williams kid to see what his situation is and how they can make sure that Able won't be taking any more shots at them. The funny thing is, Josef doesn't mind helping this one either. What none of them know is that Josef used to hunt these woods with Able, back a long time ago. It's one of the reasons he put the house here. Of course, with all the development there aren't any deer left, but Able doesn't know that. He thinks about Able when he was a teenager and remembers him fondly. They had fun hunting out here.

Beth is about as happy as Josef has seen her in a long time. He knows she was happy with him while Mick was gone, but she's more at peace now. It's good to see her emotions settling down. Mick went down to see the girls this afternoon and Emily winked at Josef when Mick was done feeding from her. Josef knows that is Emily's way of saying he's much better.

Xxxxxxx

**Well that's it for this one. Comments are always welcome. The next installment is a bit longer so it may take about 10 days to post. **


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